Nigeria and Cameroon have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening bilateral defence cooperation and securing their shared southern border across both land and sea.
The agreement was signed on Tuesday in Yaoundé by Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, retired General Christopher Gwabin Musa, and Cameroon’s Minister Delegate at the Presidency in Charge of Defence, Joseph Beti Assomo. The signing concluded two days of intensive deliberations by defence and security experts from both nations.
Under the modernized framework, both countries will enhance their operational coordination, intelligence sharing, logistics support, joint military training, and personnel exchange programmes to address emerging security threats.
A central focus of the bilateral talks was the operationalization of the recently established Combined Maritime Joint Task Force. The task force is designed to serve as a strategic platform to safeguard economic and security interests within the Gulf of Guinea.
The agreement also outlines plans for defence industrial cooperation. General Musa noted that limited indigenous production of military hardware remains an ongoing challenge for African defence capability. He invited Cameroon to collaborate under the framework of the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON), highlighting opportunities for defence manufacturing, technology transfer, research, and joint innovation.
In response, Minister Assomo expressed Cameroon’s commitment to advancing defence technology cooperation, noting that a formal proposal framework is currently being finalized to concrete the bilateral arrangements.
Officials from both nations stated that the MoU marks a pivotal milestone in reinforcing regional sovereignty and sustainable peace along the Nigeria–Cameroon border.
