The European Union has launched a €12 million regional initiative aimed at boosting the safety, security, and operational performance of major sea ports across West and Central Africa.
The project, known as SCOPE Africa – Securing Corridors, Ports and Exchanges in Western and Central Africa, was formally launched in Lomé, Togo, and will run for four years.
The initiative comes as African nations seek to enhance port resilience, improve crisis-response capacity, and expand regional cooperation in maritime security.
The project will focus on selected ports along priority land and sea corridors identified by the African Union, regional bodies, and the EU’s Global Gateway Strategy. Beneficiary ports include Lomé (Togo), Douala and Kribi (Cameroon), Praia (Cape Verde), Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Libreville (Gabon), Monrovia (Liberia), Lagos (Nigeria), and Dakar (Senegal).
According to organisers, the SCOPE Africa programme represents a major step toward safer, more competitive and more efficient ports across the region. The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France and Enabel.
Officials highlighted the programme’s focus on strengthening compliance with international maritime standards, improving emergency response systems, enhancing skills and professional training for port workers, boosting cooperation among regional ports, and consolidating platforms for regional information sharing.
The seminar included officials from beneficiary countries, port authorities, regional organisations, and private-sector partners, who noted the initiative’s importance for Africa’s maritime economy.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Regional Maritime University in Accra, marking a step toward advancing professionalisation in the maritime and port sectors.
A few months ago, EU unveiled a €545 million package to scale up renewable energy investment across Africa. The initiative, part of the EU and Team Europe’s ongoing clean energy efforts at expanding electrification, modernising power grids, and improving access to renewable energy across the continent.
Under the package, the EU plans targeted investments across nine African countries. Key allocations include €359.4 million for high-voltage power in Côte d’Ivoire to boost regional energy distribution, €59.1 million for rural electrification in Cameroon, €45.5 million to increase access to affordable renewable energy in Somalia, and €3.5 million to expand access to solar, wind, and hydropower in the Republic of Congo.
Additional funding supports wind and hydro energy in Lesotho (€25.9 million), groundwork for a large-scale solar park in Ghana (€2 million), rural mini-grid electrification in Madagascar (€33.2 million), and low-emission energy transition projects in Mozambique (€13 million).