EU launches €12m programme to strengthen maritime security in West, Central Africa
The European Union has unveiled a €12 million regional programme designed to improve safety, security and operational efficiency across major sea ports in West and Central Africa.
The initiative, known as SCOPE Africa – Securing Corridors, Ports and Exchanges in Western and Central Africa – was launched in Lomé, Togo, and will run for four years.
The project is part of a broader push to enhance maritime resilience across African coastal states, particularly as ports face increasing operational pressures, rising security risks and the need for closer regional coordination.
Organisers said SCOPE Africa will support ports along priority land and sea corridors identified by the African Union, regional organisations and the EU under its Global Gateway Strategy.
Participating ports include Lomé in Togo; Douala and Kribi in Cameroon; Praia in Cape Verde; Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo; Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire; Libreville in Gabon; Monrovia in Liberia; Lagos in Nigeria; and Dakar in Senegal.
According to programme officials, SCOPE Africa represents a significant step toward building safer, more competitive and more efficient ports capable of supporting growing maritime trade.
The initiative, funded by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France and Enabel, will focus on strengthening compliance with international maritime standards, improving emergency-response capacity, providing advanced skills training for port personnel, and enhancing cooperation and information-sharing mechanisms among regional ports.
The launch event brought together representatives from beneficiary countries, port authorities, regional institutions and private-sector partners, who underscored the programme’s importance to the continent’s maritime economy. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Regional Maritime University in Accra to boost professional development and technical training in the maritime and port sectors.
The new programme comes months after the EU announced a €545 million financing package aimed at accelerating renewable energy investment across Africa under the EU and Team Europe’s clean energy expansion drive. That package includes €359.4 million for high-voltage power infrastructure in Côte d’Ivoire, €59.1 million for rural electrification in Cameroon, €45.5 million to expand access to renewable energy in Somalia, and €3.5 million to support solar, wind and hydropower development in the Republic of Congo.
Additional allocations target wind and hydro projects in Lesotho, groundwork for a major solar park in Ghana, rural mini-grid electrification in Madagascar and low-emission energy transition projects in Mozambique.
The EU said both initiatives reflect its long-term commitment to strengthening Africa’s economic resilience through improved port security, expanded clean energy access and enhanced regional cooperation.
