Launched on October 11, the annual regional air-sea training GRAND AFRICAN NEMO 2022 (GANO 22) is organized by the architecture of Yaoundé with the support of the French Navy. GANO 22 brought together 17 nations from the Gulf of Guinea as well as partner nations Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Spain, United States, France, Italy and Morocco.
For 5 days, all the marines were confronted with training carried out according to a wide spectrum of scenarios in conditions as close as possible to reality. Within this framework, the military resources involved trained each other; the Surveillance Frigate (FS) Germinal notably simulated illegal fishing activities for the benefit of the Togolese and Nigerian navies and piracy activities on the high seas for the benefit of the Ghanaian and Ivorian navies. The Falcon 50 maritime patrol aircraftof the French Navy carried out counter-piracy training, in collaboration with the Senegalese and Gambian navies. He also took part in a sea rescue exercise alongside the Moroccan and Senegalese navies. In addition, the Moroccan and Senegalese special forces carried out a strong takeover of the Amphibious Helicopter Carrier (PHA) Tonnerre , which simulated a ship engaged in arms and drug trafficking. The Beninese, French and Italian navies also lent themselves to an exercise in the fight against pollution, an important subject in the Gulf of Guinea.
Additionally, GANO22 has been temporarily halted to accommodate two actual contest requests. On October 13, the Falcon 50 detached to Dakar was “retasked” to relocate a fishing vessel in difficulty with seven people on board, under the coordination of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) in Monrovia, Liberia. After relocating them, he then guided a nearby trading vessel so that it could assist the fishermen. On October 15, the FS Germinal and its Dauphin helicopterembarked proceeded to locate a canoe suspected of drug trafficking and to guide an Ivorian patrol boat for interception. These actions perfectly illustrate the operational purpose of GANO.
The Yaounde Architecture Regional Information System (YARIS ) system proved to be a key tool for sharing information and coordinating crisis operations between partners throughout the exercise.
As part of the Yaoundé process, the GANO22 exercise strengthened the interoperability of the participating navies for the benefit of the security architecture in the Gulf of Guinea. It was also an opportunity to develop synergies with European Union or United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) projects.
