# Ghana Hosts Africa’s First Continental Maritime Security Forum

- Link: https://www.military.africa/2026/11/ghana-hosts-africas-first-continental-maritime-security-forum/
- Published: 2026-11-01T11:43:58+01:00
- Author: Israel Chukwuma

The Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) opened the first
African Maritime Security Forum in Accra on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, bringing
naval chiefs, policymakers and researchers from across the continent together for
two days of talks on maritime threats and cooperation.

The forum ran until 15 October under the theme “The African Maritime Landscape in
Times of Geopolitical Uncertainty in 2026 and Beyond.” KAIPTC organised it with 
the Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa (SIGLA) at Stellenbosch
University and the Royal Danish Defence College (RDDC), under the Danish Peace and
Stabilisation Fund’s Maritime Security Programme for the Gulf of Guinea, which has
run from 2022 to 2026.

## “Not the Responsibility of Navies Alone”

Ghana’s Minister for Defence, Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, opened the event as Guest of
Honour. He told delegates that maritime security required a response that was “intelligence-
led and sustained by trust among nations,” and warned that criminal networks exploit
the links between land, sea and air routes, so no single state can police its waters
alone. “Maritime safety and security are not the responsibility of navies alone,”
he said, according to the [Ghana News Agency](https://gna.org.gh/2026/10/ghana-calls-for-stronger-african-cooperation-to-tackle-maritime-threats/),
calling for cooperation among governments, industry, regional bodies and international
partners. He also pointed to Denmark’s long-running support for the Ghana Armed 
Forces, including training, simulation equipment and funding for special operations
capacity.

KAIPTC Commandant Air Vice Marshal David Anetey Akrong called the gathering a milestone
and a step towards a “continent-wide approach to maritime governance.” He noted 
that the previous four editions of the conference had been held in South Africa,
and that moving it to Accra and widening its scope from the Gulf of Guinea to the
whole continent marks a shift towards treating African maritime security as one 
interconnected problem rather than a set of regional ones.

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![Ghana Navy vessel at sea](https://www.military.africa/wp-content/uploads/2025/
07/Ghanaian-navy-1-scaled.jpg)

A Ghana Navy vessel. Gulf of Guinea navies have cut piracy sharply, but speakers
in Accra warned the gains depend on sustained funding. Photo: Ghana Navy.

Denmark’s Ambassador to Ghana, Jakob Linulf, used his keynote to link the forum’s
agenda to events far from African waters. He pointed to disruption in the Middle
East that has pushed commercial shipping onto alternative routes, adding pressure
to sea lanes already straining African navies with limited ships and aircraft, and
called for stronger national ownership and regional coordination to protect freedom
of navigation. Danish officials say the partnership has trained more than 1,000 
military and civilian security officers and helped build maritime crime investigation
facilities in Ghana and Nigeria since the programme began.

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## Governance Before Hardware

A recurring theme was governance rather than equipment. Professor Ismael Theletsane,
who directs the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Affairs at the Southern 
African Development Community (SADC), told delegates that policy gaps, fragmented
institutions, weak political will and poor information-sharing do more to undermine
maritime security than any shortage of patrol boats. He urged African states and
regional blocs to fund their own maritime operations sustainably rather than lean
indefinitely on donor programmes, a point that resonates as partners such as the
European Union continue to [finance Gulf of Guinea navies](https://www.military.africa/2026/07/eu-approved-5-6-million-additional-assistance-to-boost-togo-navy/)
through the European Peace Facility.

## The Cape Route and the Drone Question

For defence planners, the forum’s briefing materials flagged two issues to watch.
The first is the Cape sea route around southern Africa, which has absorbed traffic
diverted from the Red Sea during Middle East shipping disruptions. Organisers argued
that the route should be treated as a normal, permanent part of African and global
trade rather than a fallback used only in crises, which in turn demands better maritime
domain awareness and stronger enforcement of existing regional agreements.

The second is the growing use of unmanned systems at sea. Briefing notes described
unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned surface vessels (USVs) as increasingly
useful for persistent surveillance, letting navies with few hulls and aircraft cover
more water at lower cost and risk. The same notes cautioned that criminal and militant
groups are adopting the technology too, and that African navies face real limits
in fielding their own systems: endurance, communications bandwidth, maintenance 
and a shortage of trained operators. Some are already moving: Morocco has [ordered Dutch-built USVs](https://www.military.africa/2026/11/morocco-orders-dutch-usvs-for-counter-mine-anti-submarine-missions/)
for mine countermeasures and anti-submarine work, and Military Africa has examined
how [African navies are adapting to the drone threat](https://www.military.africa/2025/10/defending-the-fleet-african-naval-air-defence-in-the-drone-era/).

Organisers also raised the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed
Conflicts at Sea, the main reference text on naval conduct in wartime, arguing it
is increasingly relevant as naval activity and the risk of clashes between fleets
grow in African waters. A member of the manual’s working group briefed delegates
on revisions under way.

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## A Crowded Maritime Calendar

The Accra forum joins a busy calendar of African maritime gatherings. The African
Maritime Forces Summit (AMFS) and Naval Infantry Leaders Symposium-Africa (NILS-
A), hosted by the Ghana Navy with US Naval Forces Africa and US Marine Corps Forces
Africa, [have met in Accra](https://www.military.africa/2024/04/ghana-navy-u-s-navy-and-marine-corps-to-host-combined-african-maritime-forces-summit-naval-infantry-leaders-symposium-africa-in-accra/)
several times, most recently from 30 April to 2 May 2024, [drawing officials from more than 40 countries](https://www.military.africa/2024/05/partners-allies-gather-in-ghana-for-african-maritime-forces-summit-naval-infantry-leaders-symposium-africa/).
An earlier edition of the summit [convened in Cabo Verde in 2023](https://www.military.africa/2023/04/african-maritime-forces-summit-discuss-strategies-to-tackle-sea-crime-in-cape-verde/),
with representatives from 31 of Africa’s 38 coastal states.

[Obangame Express 2025](https://www.military.africa/2025/05/obangame-2025-concludes/)
closed with a debrief in Lagos in May 2025, and the 2026 edition [returned to Cameroon](https://www.military.africa/2026/04/obangame-express-2026-maritime-exercise-returns-to-cameroon/)
with 31 participating nations. Ghana held its [fourth International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (IMDEC)](https://www.military.africa/2025/07/ghana-navy-concludes-imdec-2025/)
in Accra in July 2025, and African navies took part in the [US Navy’s 250th anniversary International Naval Review](https://www.military.africa/2026/06/african-warships-sail-to-new-york-for-u-s-navys-250th-anniversary-review/)
in New York in July 2026.

![African warships at the US Navy 250th anniversary International Naval Review](
https://www.military.africa/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/African-Warships-Sail-to-
New-York-for-U.S.-Navys-250th-Anniversary-Review-scaled.png)

African navies joined the US Navy’s 250th anniversary International Naval Review
in New York in July 2026.

What sets the new forum apart, organisers say, is its academic and policy focus.
Where AMFS and NILS-A lean towards operational coordination between navies and marine
forces, the Accra forum pairs serving officers with researchers from SADC, Stellenbosch
University and the Danish defence establishment, targeting the governance and legal
gaps that Theletsane and others say have outlasted the piracy crisis that first 
drew international attention to the Gulf of Guinea.

## Beyond the Piracy Crisis in the Gulf of Guinea

Akrong noted that reported piracy incidents in the Gulf of Guinea have fallen sharply
in recent years, a trend regional officials credit partly to the Yaoundé Architecture,
the framework that coordinates information-sharing and naval response among Gulf
of Guinea states. He warned, however, that underlying causes such as limited naval
capability and weak coastal governance remain. Speakers framed the decline as a 
result that depends on sustained funding and political attention rather than a solved
problem, particularly as the threat picture shifts towards armed robbery at sea,
illegal fishing, trafficking and the security of a Cape route absorbing new traffic.

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