The Third Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) opened in Accra, Ghana’s capital on Tuesday.
The high-level meeting, convened by Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, will discuss strategies for strengthening peace and security in the fight against maritime-related crimes in the GGC region.
The session is also being convened for the swearing-in of the members of the new Executive Secretariat of the Commission.
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the immediate past Chairman of the Assembly of the Heads of State of the Commission, is participating in the session.
The heads of state of other member countries were represented by country delegations.
Five member states of the GGC whose candidates were successful in the bid to represent the Commission, including Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Angola and Ghana, will be sworn into office for a three-year term.
The GGC was established by the Treaty signed in Libreville, Gabon, on 3 July 2001, comprising Angola, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe.
The Commission is tasked to constitute a framework of consultation among the countries of the Gulf of Guinea for cooperation and development, as well as for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts that may arise from the delimitation of borders and the economic and commercial exploitation of natural resources within the territorial boundaries.
The GGC began operations in March 2007, with the establishment of its Executive Secretariat in Luanda, Angola.
Cameroun and the Democratic Republic of Congo joined the Gulf of Guinea Commission in 2008.
Ghana also joined the Commission in 2017.
Membership of the Gulf of Guinea Commission is open to other states in the Gulf of Guinea region for the purposes of transforming the sub-region into a Zone of Peace and Security.
The Accra meeting has since gone into a closed-door session.
