The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has unveiled plans to create a dedicated counter-terrorism force aimed at addressing security challenges within the sub-region. Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS’ Commissioner of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, disclosed this initiative during the commencement of a three-day consultative meeting involving commandants from three designated ECOWAS Training Centres of Excellence.
The designated centers include the National Defence College in Nigeria, the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Ghana, and the Ecole de Maintien de la Paix Alioune Blondin Beye in Mali.
The consultative meeting, a bi-annual event organized by ECOWAS’ Directorate of Peacekeeping and Regional Security, aims to bolster training, capacity-building, research, and development efforts for the ECOWAS Standby Force, as well as enhance general peace and security within the sub-region.
Amb. Musah highlighted the escalating threat of terrorism across the region, emphasizing the necessity of establishing counter-terrorism forces to contain its proliferation.
“In the coming weeks, ECOWAS has already developed operational modalities, the concept of operations, and other necessary frameworks to establish an advanced rapid reaction force capable of confronting terrorist bases,” stated Musah.
He further revealed that, in line with directives from the heads of state, a substantial fund of $2.4 billion would be mobilized to support the ECOWAS standby force in combating security challenges effectively.
“The Heads of States have mandated the raising of approximately $2.4 billion in the first year to support the operations of this force in combating terrorism,” Musah elaborated.
Out of the total amount, member states have been instructed to contribute one billion dollars to kickstart the operations of the standby force. Additionally, Musah noted that defense and finance ministers from the sub-region would convene to devise funding modalities for the force, further underscoring ECOWAS’ commitment to bolstering regional security cooperation.
