U.S. military conducts first maritime drills with West African forces
Sogakope, Ghana: The West African soldiers approached the rust-stained ferry in stealth, docked their tiny boats next to it, and climbed its sides on grapple hooks to disarm the pretend kidnappers inside.
The practice was conducted on Saturday on Ghana’s Volta River as part of a long-running Flintlock program to improve the capabilities of West African forces.
Soldiers held their weapons up as they battled neck-high waves during the sea-based training in the first half of March before attacking a beach resort to end a simulated hostage situation. Diplomats and military leaders observed the exercises.
The program has been expanded, according to Admiral Milton Sands, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command for Africa (SOCAF), to help coastal governments deal with maritime concerns including piracy and illicit fishing.
According to him, unpermitted fishing “is a key one that we’re really trying to work with our partners to get our arms around slowing down,” he told Reuters on Tuesday.
According to him, illicit fishing not only deprives the area of an essential food source but also feeds other criminal activities, such as drug trafficking and people trafficking.
On the Gulf of Guinea, 350 soldiers participated in the operations, including soldiers from Ghana, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast. Despite a decline in incidents since 2021, it did little to erase the perception that the region is a global center for piracy.
According to the 2022 research by the Financial Transparency Coalition of non-governmental organizations, it was adjudged that illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing has spread along West Africa’s shores, stealing an estimated $9.4 billion per year through illicit financial flows.
Eight of the top 10 organizations they discovered to be engaged in IUU fishing in the area were Chinese, and a third of all vessels flew Chinese flags.
Combating IUU fishing has become a high concern, according to Commodore Godwin Livinus Bessing, commander of Ghana’s Naval Training Command, who cited a lack of resources to cope with the foreign vessels plundering from Ghana’s seas.
Despite our ability to enforce our rules, he claimed, they still disregard them. “It is among the main issues. If there were enough of our ships there.
