African Lion 2025: Closing of a Landmark Edition

The 21st edition of the African Lion 2025 exercises, the largest annual military event of the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), officially concluded on May 23 with resounding success. Held across several theaters—Morocco, Ghana, Senegal, and Tunisia—these exercises brought together more than 10,000 soldiers from over 40 nations in an unprecedented display of multinational cooperation.

This joint, multidomain, and multicomponent exercise gathered forces from Africa, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, and Latin America. Among the most prominent countries were Morocco, the United States, Israel, France, and the United Kingdom, along with seven NATO members. Observers from Belgium, the DRC, Qatar, and India, among others, reflected the growing interest in collective security on the African continent.

In Morocco, the primary theater of operations, maneuvers took place in six strategic areas: Agadir, Tan-Tan, Tiznit, Kenitra, Benguerir, and Tifnit. On the ground, military personnel conducted command exercises, live-fire simulations, tactical training, as well as humanitarian and civil operations. These activities aim to enhance interoperability among partner armies and prepare effective responses to humanitarian crises, terrorist threats, and transnational criminal activities.

The strong involvement of the United States and Morocco in this exercise confirms a strategic bilateral cooperation, strengthened since the U.S. recognition of Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Sahara in 2020. This support has solidified Morocco’s role as a pillar of regional stability, in direct opposition to the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria— a country that, once again, was notably absent from this edition.

The 2025 African Lion edition illustrates a renewed vision of security in Africa, where partnership, military preparedness, and regional cooperation are placed at the core of priorities. This dynamic could well shape a new strategic framework for the continent, amid increasing hybrid threats and geopolitical rivalries.