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Draft:Yaoundé Architecture

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Yaoundé Architecture

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Yaoundé Architecture
Formation2013
TypeRegional maritime security architecture
PurposeMaritime security cooperation
Region served
Gulf of Guinea, West and Central Africa
Members25 signatory states

The Yaoundé Architecture is a regional maritime security structure for cooperation among states in West and Central Africa, particularly those bordering the Gulf of Guinea.[1] It extends from Cape Verde and Senegal to Angola.[2] It developed from the Yaoundé Code of Conduct (YCoC), which was signed by 25 West and Central African states in 2013 to strengthen regional cooperation against piracy, armed robbery at sea and other forms of illicit maritime activity.[3] The Code sets the overall rules for cooperation between the countries involved, while the Yaoundé Architecture connects maritime security institutions at different levels to put this cooperation into practice and carry out the goals of the YCoC.[1][3]

The Architecture is intended to facilitate the coordination of maritime law-enforcement activities, maritime domain awareness and information sharing between the participating states.[4]

Background and establishment

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BERJAYA
Map of the Gulf of Guinea

The Gulf of Guinea (GoG) is a 6,000-kilometre maritime area along the coast of West and Central Africa. The region contains major shipping routes and significant oil, gas and fisheries resources.[5] International attention to African piracy initially centred on Somalia, but because piracy and armed robbery became a growing security concern in the Gulf of Guinea during the early 2010s as attacks became more frequent and spread across the region, it drew greater international attention.[6][5]

Between 1991 and 2012, 734 pirate attacks were reported in the Gulf of Guinea, and by 2012 the number of reported incidents in the region had overtaken those in East Africa and the coast of Somalia.[6] The attacks went from low-level armed robberies to more violent attacks on oil tankers.[5] The cross-border nature of maritime crime also complicated national responses. In 2011, Nigeria and Benin established the joint patrol Operation Prosperity, after which reported attacks in Beninese waters declined while attacks increased elsewhere in the region.[5]

Regional maritime cooperation existed before the creation of the Yaoundé Architecture. The Architecture builds on earlier forms of cooperation, including the Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), established in 1975 to promote cooperation in areas such as coastguard activities, shipping and ports.[1] Other regional initiatives also developed in the following decades. The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), for instance, adopted a maritime security strategy in 2009 to protect the maritime interests of its member states.[7] Regional maritime initiatives remained fragmented, with organisations developing separate approaches to maritime security. This also spread the already limited maritime resources of many states across different initiatives.[8] Many states also had limited maritime capabilities, making it difficult for individual countries to respond to piracy and other maritime crimes on their own.[5]

Maritime insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea also received increasing international attention. The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolutions 2018 (2011) and 2039 (2012), which called for greater regional and international cooperation against piracy and armed robbery at sea.[9][10][6] The heads of state and government from West and Central Africa met in Yaoundé, Cameroon in June 2013. The meeting brought together the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) to strengthen cooperation against maritime crime in the region.[1] The summit resulted in several agreements, including YCoC, which built on earlier regional initiatives and provided the basis for the development of the cooperation structure, that is known today as the Yaoundé Architecture.[6][1]

The Yaoundé Code of Conduct (YCoC)

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The Yaoundé Code of Conduct (YCoC) was signed in June 2013 by 25 member states of ECOWAS, ECCAS and GGC as a regional framework for cooperation to repress piracy, armed robbery against ships and other illicit maritime activities in West and Central Africa.[7] The YCoC was developed with support from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and drew on the earlier Djibouti Code of Conduct, which was adopted in 2009 for the Western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.[11] The Code consists of 21 articles and covers a broader range of maritime security threats such as illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, maritime pollution, maritime terrorism and trafficking.[12][3][13] The Code provides for cooperation between participating states in areas such as information sharing, maritime law enforcement, measures against piracy and armed robbery at sea, incident reporting and prosecutions.[12][14] The YCoC is non-binding, although it provides for reviewing its implementation with the possibility of developing a legally binding agreement.[12][11] The Yaoundé Architecture helps put the cooperation outlined in the YCoC into practice.[1]

The 25 signatory states are listed below.[3]
Country Flag
Angola Angola
Benin Benin
Burkina Faso Burkina Faso
Burundi Burundi
Cabo Verde Cape Verde
Cameroon Cameroon
Central African Republic Central African Republic
Chad Chad
Côte d’Ivoire Ivory Coast
Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo
Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea
Gabon Gabon
The Gambia The Gambia
Ghana Ghana
Guinea Guinea
Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau
Liberia Liberia
Mali Mali
Niger Niger
Nigeria Nigeria
Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo
São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal Senegal
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone
Togo Togo

Institutional structure and governance

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The Yaoundé Architecture connects independent states and maritime security institutions through a network of coordination centres at different levels. While the institutions are organised hierarchically, maritime enforcement remains a national responsibility for the participating states.[3] The structure connects institutions at the political, interregional, regional, zonal and national levels.[6]

At the political level, ECOWAS, ECCAS and the GGC provide overall political direction for the Architecture and oversee the regional maritime security centres.[7][6] Below them, at the interregional level, is the Interregional Coordination Centre (ICC), also called CIC in French (Centre Interrégional de Coordination), which is based in Yaoundé. The ICC helps with coordination between West and Central Africa by guiding the work of CRESMAO and CRESMAC. Its role includes setting general priorities, coordinating activities between the two regions, overseeing the work of the different centres and representing the Architecture in regional and international organisations.[7][15][16]

At the regional level, the Architecture has established two regional maritime security centres. The Regional Centre for Maritime Security in West Africa (CRESMAO), based in Abidjan, is responsible for the ECOWAS region, while the Regional Centre for Maritime Security in Central Africa (CRESMAC), based in Pointe-Noire, is responsible for the ECCAS and GGC region.[7][15] Their activities include maritime monitoring, coordinating responses to maritime threats, capacity building, and strengthening cooperation between the maritime authorities of member states.[15] The two regions are further divided into five operational maritime zones. Zones E (Benin, Togo, Nigeria and Niger), F (Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia, Guinea and Burkina Faso) and G (Senegal, Cabo Verde, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Mali) are connected to CRESMAO, while Zones A (Republic of the Congo, Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo) and D (Gabon, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and São Tomé and Príncipe) are connected to CRESMAC.[7] Some signatory states, such as Chad and the Central African Republic, are landlocked contributors to CRESMAC but are not assigned to any of the five maritime zones.[6] Each zone has a Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre (MMCC) based in a host country, which coordinates maritime activities between the countries within the zone and connects them with their respective regional centre.[17]

At the national level, Maritime Operational Centres (MOCs) bring together the main authorities involved in maritime security in each country, including customs, environmental authorities, maritime police and navies. MOCs also provide a national link for exchanging information and reacting to alerts from other parts of the Architecture.[7]

External partners and international cooperation

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The institutions of the Yaoundé Architecture have limited operational capacity of their own, and international partners, especially the European Union, have provided support to the Architecture.[1][6] The EU has funded several maritime security programmes in the region, including the Support to West Africa Integrated Maritime Security programme (SWAIMS), the Gulf of Guinea Inter-Regional Network (GoGIN) and the Support Programme to the Maritime Security Strategy in Central Africa (PASSMAR).[6][18] GoGIN also developed the Yaoundé Architecture Regional Information System (YARIS), which allows centres within the Architecture to share information and combine data from sources such as AIS, radar and satellite systems. YARIS became operational in 2020 and connected 24 centres within the Architecture in 2022.[19][6][20]

BERJAYA
Participants in Obangame Express 2024 maritime security training in Ghana.

The EU also supports the Yaoundé Architecture through Coordinated Maritime Presences (CMP), which coordinates the presence of EU member states' naval forces in the Gulf of Guinea and promotes cooperation with the Architecture and its institutions.[6][21][22] International partners, including France, the United States, Japan and Denmark, have supported maritime security in the region through training, equipment, capacity building and joint exercises.[6][7] Multinational exercises form part of this cooperation, including the US-supported Obangame Express, which brings together Gulf of Guinea navies and partners from outside the region. Since its launch in 2011, it has grown to become the region's largest maritime training exercise involving multiple countries.[6] International cooperation also takes place through the G7++ Friends of the Gulf of Guinea (G7++FoGG), which brings together international and regional partners to help carry out the YCoC through training, maritime domain awareness and operations.[6]

International partners have also directed support toward strengthening prosecution and legal capacity in the region.[7] The Architecture's own role centres on detecting maritime crime and coordinating responses, and prosecution remains the responsibility of individual states.[12] Since 2009, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has provided capacity building in the region through its Global Maritime Crime Programme (GMCP), including training for judges, investigators and prosecutors to strengthen the prosecution of maritime crimes.[7]

Implementation and challenges

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Several institutions established under the Yaoundé Architecture took years to become fully operational. The ICC, established in 2014, became fully operational in 2017, and CRESMAO began operating in 2016 and was not formally inaugurated until 2022.[6] Development at the zonal level has also been uneven as Zone G became operational in 2022, while the MMCC for Zone A is still not fully operational, although cooperation between states in the zone continues.[23][6]

Information sharing within the Architecture remains divided between several systems used in the region, including YARIS, SeaVision and SOLARTA. The systems are not directly interconnected, and information therefore has to be exchanged across separate platforms.[6] YARIS has relied on EU funding through GoGIN, creating uncertainty over its long-term financing after the project ends.[19] Domestic laws and regulations provide part of the legal basis for implementing the YCoC. Many states in the region do not have laws specifically dealing with maritime crimes, which can make it difficult to prosecute these offences. Some states have introduced new legislation or strengthened existing laws to address these gaps.[7]

Piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea have nevertheless declined from their earlier levels. Reported incidents fell from 84 in 2020 to 18 in 2024, with 21 incidents reported in 2025.[24][25] The United Nations has linked part of this decline to the continued implementation of the Yaoundé Architecture.[26] However, despite the lower level of reported piracy, violence against crew members remains a concern and has led to continued calls for stronger regional coordination. In 2025, 23 crew members were kidnapped in four separate incidents in the Gulf of Guinea.[25]

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cissé, Yacouba (4 March 2024). "Second report on prevention and repression of piracy and armed robbery at sea, by Yacouba Cissé, Special Rapporteur*" (PDF). United Nations Digital Library. p. 21.
  2. ↑ Andersen, Mikkel Ørum; Vreÿ, Francois (2025). "Exploring Communities of Practice for Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea: Opportunities and Constraints". Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies. 8 (1): 521–536. doi:10.31374/sjms.396. ISSN 2596-3856.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Yücel, Hüseyin (2021-06-11). "Sovereignty and Transnational Cooperation in the Gulf of Guinea: How a Network Approach can Strengthen the Yaoundé Architecture". Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies. 4 (1): 146–157. doi:10.31374/sjms.90. ISSN 2596-3856.
  4. ↑ Larsen, Jessica (2022). "Towards maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea: Are Danish efforts fit for purpose?". In Mouritzen, Hans; Fischer, Kristian (eds.). Danish Foreign Policy Review 2022. Danish Institute for International Studies. pp. 138–164. ISBN 978-87-7236-084-3.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 ONUOHA, FREEDOM C. (2013-10-01). "Piracy and Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea: Trends, Concerns, and Propositions". The Journal of the Middle East and Africa. 4 (3): 267–293. doi:10.1080/21520844.2013.862767. ISSN 2152-0844.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Schandorf, Stephanie Oserwa (2024-10-01). "Reimagining counter-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Guinea: Lessons from the theory of infrastructure for coordination and information sharing". African Security Review. 33 (4): 403–419. doi:10.1080/10246029.2024.2373110. ISSN 1024-6029.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Danso, Kwaku; Allotey-Pappoe, Serwaa (2022). "Mapping Maritime Actors under the Yaoundé Protocol: Establishing Mandates, Interrelationships, Gaps and Prospects" (PDF). Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre.
  8. ↑ Ali, Kamal-Deen (2015-07-28). "Prospects and Challenges of Regional Cooperative Initiatives". Maritime Security Cooperation in the Gulf of Guinea: Prospects and Challenges. Brill | Nijhoff. pp. 242–244. doi:10.1163/9789004301047_009. ISBN 978-90-04-30104-7.
  9. ↑ "Resolution 2018 (2011)". United Nations Digital Library. United Nations Security Council. 31 October 2011.
  10. ↑ "Resolution 2039 (2012)". United Nations Digital Library. United Nations Security Council. 29 February 2012.
  11. 1 2 "International Law Enforcement Cooperation in the Fisheries Sector: A Guide for Law Enforcement Practitioners" (PDF). INTERPOL. February 2018. p. 84-85. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of Piracy, Armed Robbery against Ships, and Illicit Maritime Activity in West and Central Africa" (PDF). International Maritime Organization. 25 June 2013.
  13. ↑ Bell, Curtis (2020-08-24). "Gauging Maritime Security in West and Central Africa". Stable Seas. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  14. ↑ "Maritime security in West and Central Africa". www.imo.org. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  15. 1 2 3 Coordination (CIC), Centre Interrégional de. "CIC — Centre Interrégional de Coordination | Golfe de Guinée". CIC — Centre Interrégional de Coordination (in French). Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  16. ↑ "Boosting regional maritime security coordination in west and central Africa". www.imo.org. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  17. ↑ Larsen, Jessica; Schandorf, Stephanie (2023). "Power and path dependencies may weaken EU counter-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Guinea" (PDF). Danish Institute for International Studies.
  18. ↑ "EU Maritime Security Factsheet: The Gulf of Guinea | EEAS". www.eeas.europa.eu. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  19. 1 2 Okafor-Yarwood, Ifesinachi; Eastwood, Oliver; Chikowore, Noleen; de Oliveira Paes, Lucas (2024-02-01). "Technology and maritime security in Africa: Opportunities and challenges in Gulf of Guinea". Marine Policy. 160 105976. Bibcode:2024MarPo.16005976O. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105976. ISSN 0308-597X.
  20. ↑ GNA (2022-07-18). "Yaounde Architecture Regional Information System reinforces fight against piracy, maritime security threats". Ghana News Agency. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  21. ↑ "EU Maritime Security: Exercise in the Gulf of Guinea strengthens coordination in the fight against piracy and criminal activity at sea | EEAS". www.eeas.europa.eu. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  22. ↑ "Coordinated Maritime Presences | EEAS". www.eeas.europa.eu. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  23. ↑ "Yaoundé Code of Conduct Maritime Zones A & D Workshop: Executive Summary" (PDF). Africa Center for Strategic Studies. December 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  24. ↑ "Maritime piracy dropped in 2024, but crew safety remains at risk – ICC – Commercial Crime Services". ICC - International Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  25. 1 2 "Global maritime piracy and armed robbery increased in 2025". ICC - International Chamber of Commerce. 2026-01-15. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
  26. ↑ "Ongoing Decline in Gulf of Guinea's Piracy, Armed Robbery Encouraging, But Support Needed to Fully Implement Yaoundé Architecture, Briefers Tell Security Council". United Nations. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 2026-08-18.
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