Kofi Ampeah Woode
The 12th anniversary edition of the largest multinational maritime exercise in Western and Central Africa – EXERCISE OBANGAME EXPRESS 2023 (OE23), has kicked off with an attempt to transition the leadership of the annual exercises from the United States of America to partner nations in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).
Although OE23 – which has over 200 participants from 31 countries and regional groupings – has commenced in earnest in three West African Countries already (la Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria), the official Opening and Closing Ceremonies take place in Lagos, Nigeria, on Monday 23 January, and Friday 03 February, 2023, respectively.
Participating countries and institutions include the following: Angola, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Cape Verde, Cameroun, Canada, la Cote d’lvoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Denmark, Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre (MMCC) Zone A, ECCAS MMCC Zone D, ECCAS Regional Coordinating Centre (CRESMAO), ECOWAS Regional MMCC Zone E, ECOWAS MMCC Zone F.
The rest are ECOWAS MMCC Zone G, ECOWAS Regional Coordinating Centre (CRESMAO), Equatorial Guinea, France, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Guinea (Conakry, International Maritime Organization (IMO), Inter-Regional Coordinating Centre (ICC), Liberia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Spain, Togo, USA.
Apart from building the capacity of the Navies in the GoG region to maintain a safe and secured maritime environment for socio-economic development, OE23 has been designed to involve stakeholders in Ghana’s maritime industry, to ensure interoperability between maritime partners and cooperation at sea.
The OE23 will therefore, focus mainly on information sharing between maritime stakeholders, for it is said that ‘the birthplace of Exercise Obangame is in communications drills’ – Obangame means “togetherness” in several African dialects – and will test the ability of West African navies to monitor their territorial waters for illicit activity, communicate maritime domain awareness and coordinate with neighboring Navies to interdict illegal activities.
In Ghana, OE23 will train with scenarios such as Anti-Piracy/Hijacking, Illegal Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) Fishing, Illegal Bunkering/Level One Oil Spill, Major Oil Spill, Tracking Exercise (TRACKEX)/Narcotics, Human Trafficking/Search and Rescue (SAR), and Shipboard Preventive Medicine.
Some training events that will take place in Ghana include; Maritime Domain Awareness Drills and Operational Planning Capacity Building – A team from the US Navy and Canadian Coast Guard will be in Ghana to conduct Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) training/drills and Operational Planning capacity building;
There will also be Maritime Interdiction Operations Training – Ghana Navy (GN) in collaboration with the Dutch, German and Canadian Navies, will conduct Maritime Interdiction Operation (MIO) and Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS) training at the Western Naval Command (WNC), to prepare selected personnel from GN and Benin Navy, and other maritime stakeholders for the exercise.
Additionally, INTERPOL will deliver lectures on Evidence Collection and Preservation in order to facilitate strong legal finish in maritime incidents, whiles the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides training on roles of On-Scene-Commander during oil spill situations in Sekondi.
As part of the training, a GN Special Boat Squadron (SBS) team together with Special Operations Forces (SOF) teams from Togo, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia and Benin will receive advanced and specialized training for a period of 3 weeks. The training will be facilitated by SOF trainers from Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, US and INTERPOL.
Furthermore, there will be Maritime Interdiction Operations/VBSS Training, where the VBSS training will be conducted in Sekondi for the regular Maritime Interdiction Operation teams from Ghana, Benin and Cote d’Ivoire. The training will be facilitated by trainers from Netherlands, Canada, Germany and INTERPOL.
Obangame Express started out with a focus on classic maritime threats, but has evolved to illegal fishing, however, anti-piracy capabilities remain a priority for OE because the GoG continues to hold one of the globe’s worst concentrations of pirates.
Experts believe US has an interest in security and stability in the GoG region for both humanitarian and economic reasons. The country is keenly interested in seeing West African maritime forces handle difficult situations without oversea support, and it is believed to be the reason why the US-AFIRCOM launched the “Obangame Express” series of military exercises 12 years ago.
Other watchers of the GoG space would like to see the US cede its organizational duties for OE to the host nations, however, whiles that view is upheld by other experts, both thoughts believe handing the exercise over to the African Nations is a long-term goal.
The United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM or AFRICOM), is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense, with its Area of Responsibility covering all of Africa except Egypt, and is headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for US military operations, including fighting regional conflicts and maintaining military relations with 53 African nations.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
