Africa-Press – Angola. The Chief of Staff of the Angolan Navy (MGA), Vice Admiral Manuel de Jesus, highlighted this Thursday, in Luanda, the contribution of the “Grand African Nemo” naval exercise in enhancing and coordinating autonomy of the Angolan navies. continent in the fight against illicit activities at sea.
According to the vice admiral, who was speaking at the end of the 2023 edition of the annual exercise, this training space, with support for the Yaoundé (Cameroon) code of conduct, has allowed greater operational, international cooperation, good-neighborhood policy and reinforcement , increasingly, of military diplomacy.
Likewise, he added that the training space plays an important role in freedom of navigation in the Gulf of Guinea Region, reinforcing coordination in the fight against maritime insecurity.
Manuel de Jesus praised the commitment of the Angolan delegation to the event, whose participants total a total of 350 military personnel and 450 civilians, including representatives of navies and other organizations, from 18 African countries, as well as international partners, under the coordination of France .
The Grand African Nemo is an annual exercise embodied in the Yaoundé (Cameroon) code of conduct aimed at the naval forces of the Gulf of Guinea countries, taking into account maritime security and free trade in the region and beyond.
It also aims to attract organizations to the “spirit” of defense and security, with emphasis on the Inter-Regional Communication (CIC), Regional Maritime Security for West Africa (CRESMAO) and Regional Maritime Security (CRESMAC) centers.
The exercise took place from the 4th to the 19th of this month, subdivided into two phases, one national, in which training is carried out at the level of the maritime territories of the respective States, and another zonal, more comprehensive phase, in which the different countries of the Gulf Region They are concentrated in zones (A, D, E, F and G).
At the end, certificates of participation were handed out.
Angola, whose participation in the exercises began in 2019, coordinates Zone A, which also includes the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In the national stage, held from the 4th to the 11th of this year, the country developed the themes “Maritime Pollution”, in the Luanda area, “Illegal Immigration”, in Ambiz, Bengo province, and “Arms Trafficking”, in Soyo (Zaire). ), while in the final zone the maritime area of Cabinda was the stage for operations.
Participating in the exercise were Angola, Republic of Congo and DR Congo (Zone A), São Tomé and Príncipe, Cameroon and Gabon (Zone D), Togo, Benin and Nigeria (Zone E), Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana (Zone F) and Cape Verde, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and the Republic of Guinea (Zone G).
It was also attended, among others, by members of the navies of the United States of America (USA), England, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Canada, Portugal, Morocco, Belgium and Denmark.
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