Kofi Ampeah Woode
Ghana Navy (GN), co-chairing with the United States (US) Naval Forces, Africa, and the US Marine Corps Forces, Africa, commenced the maiden combined African Maritime Forces Summit (AMFS) and Naval Infantry Leaders Symposium-Africa (NILS-A) in Ghana, to enhance naval capabilities, foster interoperability, and build crisis response capacities, ensuring security and stability for African maritime forces.
The three-day fifty-three nations’ conference commenced at the Kempinski Gold Coast City Hotel, Accra, Ghana, lasting from Tuesday April 30 to Thursday May 2, 2024, with the opening ceremony being graced by the President of Ghana and Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) – His Excellency (HE) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as Chief Guest.
Speaking on the theme of the conference: “Co-operation at Sea: Safeguarding African Maritime Security”, HE Akufo-Addo said Ghana acknowledges the critical importance of maritime security, for the prosperity and stability of the African continent.
Referring to the current crises in the Red Sea, the C-In-C said the GoG Region, being a key route for international trade for all continents, has seen the re-routing of maritime traffic around the Cape of Good Hope to the Western Hemisphere and Europe, attesting to the strategic importance of the Western Coast of Africa.
He praised the GN and Nigeria Navy (NN), for their coordination efforts in suppressing piracy and armed robbery at sea – which he described as the most visible symptoms of insecurity in the GoG – although there still are remnants of significant threats to national and regional maritime activities.
“Managing maritime security is a challenging endeavour, and I am sure that this gathering will agree that the only way forward is continuous cooperation and collaboration amongst the broad spectrum of global maritime stakeholders. No nation can afford to do it alone”, the President said.
He lastly called for commitment to upholding multilateralism and the principles of international law, respect for sovereignty, peaceful resolution of disputes, promoting sustainable development, and ensuring the well-being of coastal communities.
The US Ambassador to Ghana – HE Virginia Palmer in a speech said, effective maritime security is more about the partnerships forged, than ships and equipment, and that collaborations formed at the conference should strengthen the ties that bind naval forces across oceans, and to reinforce their collective resolve to face maritime threats head-on.
Justifying Ghana as co-hosts of the first ever AMFS NILS-A Conference, the Ambassador said the US and Ghana share a very strong bilateral relationship, having two-way trade and investments in health, education, clean water that benefit millions of Ghanaians, cooperation at the United Nations (UN) and multi-lateral organizations; law enforcement collaborations, and security cooperation.
She furthered that Ghana has long been a leader in regional security, and an exporter of peace, with over 2,600 Ghanaian military and police personnel serving in UN peacekeeping operations in Africa and the Middle East, and a strong advocate for democracy in the West Africa sub-region.
HE Palmer said the seas – especially the GoG – are bridges that connect the world, serving as channels for trade and shared prosperity, and are also frontlines in joint efforts to combat piracy, illegal fishing, and illicit trafficking – challenges that no single nation can effectively face alone, thus urging discussions at the conference, and subsequent actions, to lead to effective countering and prosecution of negative activities.
She continued to say that, through multi-year implementation of the US Strategy to Prevent Conflict and Promote Stability (SPCPS), her Government is working across Coastal West Africa to promote social cohesion, inclusive economic growth, and accountable governance in order to prevent conflict.
“Development – along with professional security forces offering real security to vulnerable populations, is key to halting the spread of violent extremism” Ambassador V Palmer said.
Admiral Stuart Munsch – Commander, US Naval Forces, Europe and Africa; and concurrently Commander, Allied Joint Forces Command, Headquartered in Naples, Italy, where he directs a combined NATO staff responsible for planning, preparing and conducting military operations throughout the Supreme Allied Commander Europe’s area of responsibility, shared a few words.
Setting the stage, Admiral Munsch stated that the world faces a decisive decade where threats from terrorist, extremist and criminal organizations, and climate change further threaten nations’ foundational principles of self-determination, territorial integrity, and independence.
He proffered that by fostering strong institutions and credibility ashore, maritime security capacity can be built, to deter and defend against threats, and that as US Naval Forces, his Command remains committed to building enduring partnerships, bolstering capacities to protect and enable long-term, African-led prosperity, and promoting regional stability, alongside African partners.
Giving an example of real maritime security concerns, Admiral Munsch cited the Pew Charitable Trust report in February 2024, which said that unreported fishing in West Africa alone costs the region $1 Billion dollars in 2023, and that coercive states and criminal syndicates, who in turn directly harm the future prosperity of Africa, finance this illegal fishing.
Not only are the stolen fish lost economic gains, but they are also a lost source of nutrition at a time when food insecurity is high because of the on-going war in Ukraine, as they plunder shared marine resources, jeopardize the delicate balance of ocean ecosystems, and steal from the communities that depend on these resources, he concluded.
The Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS), GAF – Rear Admiral (R/Adm) Issah Adam Yakubu, in his welcome address as co-host, said the GN fully recognizes the critical importance of secure and stable maritime domains, not only for economic growth and development, but also for regional stability.
Although Africa has vast coastlines and rich maritime resources, which have the potential to drive growth and prosperity for the continent’s nations, they also present complex challenges, including piracy, illegal unreported unregulated fishing, smuggling, and various other transnational organized crimes threats.
He stated that by sharing experiences, best practices, and lessons learned at such international conferences such as the AMFS and NILS-A, it enhances capabilities, improves readiness and effectiveness to respond to the evolving security landscape that surrounds coastal waters.
Admiral Yakubu continued that the Ghana Navy has been a great beneficiary of regional and global partnerships, in areas like maritime domain awareness (MDA), Special Boat operations and manpower capacity, among others.
“Ghana has become a destination of choice for large maritime conferences because of the capacity we have developed over the years. Our bi-annual International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (IMDEC), has etched its name on the list of global defence events, and it is arguably one of the largest maritime security events on the African continent”, R/Adm IA Yakubu stated.
Major General (Maj Gen) Robert Sofge – Commander, US Marine Corps Forces, Africa, Headquartered in Stuttgart Germany, said the conference makes the largest, continent-wide event of its kind, following after the first iteration of NILS-A virtually in 2021, followed by an in-person confab in 2022 in Senegal, and then the first AMFS 2023 in Cabo Verde.
Maj Gen Sofge opined that in thinking outside the box, the conference can procure the right tools such as Riverine Boats to patrol the littoral states, MDA technology to provide Intelligence Surveillance and Reporting (ISR), and new airborne technology that has already proved effective on the battlefields.
He asserted that continuing to build the right Coalitions like the Djibouti and Yaoundé Codes of Conduct, and the Nigeria Combined Maritime Task Force, the coalition could train its forces to have a credible and capable maritime presence, through training exercises like OBANGAME, PHOENIX and CUTLASS EXPRESS.
In February 2024, US Marine Corps conducted a five-week joint combined exchange training exercise with West and Central African nations to enhance their security capacity, and to help develop the foundation of each nation’s enlisted corps, whiles Naval Seabees in Ghana, work with Tunisia, Nigeria and Gabon to build schools and Forward Operating Bases (FOBs).
In May 2024, Ghana will host and participate in multiple international military training exercises like OBANGAME EXPRESS, AFRICAN LION, and FLINTLOCK.
Participating nations of the combined AMFS NILS-A conference include Algeria, Angola, Australia, Benin, Brazil, Cameroun, Canada, Cape Verde, Columbia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, India, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kenya.
Others are Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Togo, Tunisia, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Tanzania, with many other multinational institutions.
Dignitaries present at the opening ceremony included Ghana’s Defence Minister – Dominic Nitiwul; Minister for National Security – Albert Kan-Dapaah; Minister of Interior – Henry Quartey; Commander, US Africa Command – General Michael Elliot Langley; GAF Chief of Defence Staff – Lieutenant General Thomas Oppong-Peprah; Ghana’s Inspector General of Police – Dr George Akuffo-Dampare.
Others were the Chief of Army Staff, GAF – Maj Gen Bismarck Kwasi Onwona; Chief of the Air Staff, GAF – Air Vice Marshal Frederick Asare Kwasi Bekoe; Comptroller General, Ghana Immigration Service – Mr Kwame Essuah Takyi Esq, Ghana’s Chief Fire Officer – Mr Julius Kuunuor Aalebkure, amongst many.
By Kofi Ampeah-Woode
