Ultra-fast speedboats are now plying the Ivorian waters, ready to hunt down pirates, illegal fishermen and traffickers. Indeed, the National Navy General Staff has officially received two Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) type boats, as well as a large batch of forensic equipment. The ceremony, chaired by Rear Admiral Amara Koné, Deputy Chief of Staff of the National Navy, took place in the presence of the Ambassador of the European Union to Côte d'Ivoire and the Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Anna Isabel Xavier. 

This initiative is part of the SWAIMS (Support to West Africa Integrated Maritime Security) project, financed by the European Union and whose national component is co-financed by the Portuguese agency Camões, Institute of Cooperation and Language, in conjunction with the Ministry of National Defense of Portugal. This regional program supports the implementation of the ECOWAS Integrated Maritime Strategy, which covers the fifteen Member States of the Community. Ivory Coast thus joins Senegal, which received a similar batch of two RHIBs and forensic kits in January 2026 in Dakar. These new means will thus significantly improve intervention capabilities at sea and forensic investigation tools in the face of illicit activities in the maritime environment. 

Note that this gesture illustrates the solidity of a tripartite partnership between the European Union, ECOWAS and Côte d'Ivoire, resolutely focused towards a safer and more prosperous Gulf of Guinea.