The EU SDI in the Gulf of Guinea aims to empower Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Benin to strengthen their security and defence capabilities based on their expressed needs to help them respond to security threats in their northern regions. It will deliver customised support based on the needs identified and formulated by the four partner countries.

The Initiative has a civilian pillar and a military pillar. This will enable the EU to deliver tailored support to partners based on their identified and formulated needs, providing expertise and support in a timely manner In the initial phase, six EU civilian and military advisors will be based in EU Delegations across the region. They will set up a network of contacts and work with national authorities to identify concrete needs and devise advisory or training projects. Additional EU experts and/or short-term training teams can be called on a temporary basis to answer specific partner requests.

• Capacity-building of the national security and defence forces;
• Pre-deployment operational training of their security and defence forces;
• Enhancement of security and defence forces in technical areas;
• Promotion of the rule of law and good governance in the security sector, focusing on the security and defence forces;
• Support trust building between civil society and security and defence forces.

Following an innovative, flexible and modular set up, the initiative will combine military and civilian security and defence expertise (provinding short-term training teams or visiting experts) in complementarity with European Peace Facility assistance measures, such as the recently adopted ones to support the Beninese Armed Forces (€11.75 million) and the Ghana Armed Forces (€8.25 million).