Standby Force: AU’s security initiative crucial to ECOWAS peace operations, says Agnekethom
Cyriaque Agnekethom, the director of ECOWAS Peacekeeping and Regional Security, says the African Union’s African Peace and Security Architecture initiative has been crucial to ECOWAS Peace Support Operations. He stated this in an interview on Thursday in Abuja.
APSA is an AU programme funded by the European Union that was rolled out in 2002 to promote peace and security in Africa through Regional Economic Communities.
Mr Agnekethom described APSA as an innovative funding initiative to implement specific EU-funded projects within regional organisations such as ECOWAS to achieve peace and security goals.
Mr Agnekethom disclosed that the deployment of the 5,000-strong ECOWAS standby force, dedicated to the fight against terrorism, would begin in 2026 with an initial force of 1,650.
He explained that the ESF is just a pillar of the AU’s Standby Force, implying that the ESF primarily supports the operations of the continental standing force initiative.
Mr Agnekethom said the process of accessing APSA funding entails ECOWAS writing to the AU, and if the AU approves the request, it then sends it to the EU, which funds the desired projects.
He said that APSA has been a very helpful instrument for reducing the burden on Member States and ECOWAS when it comes to the deployment of peace support operations.
Mr Agnekethom further said that the EU’s financial support for APSA through the AU was also instrumental in bringing together ECOWAS’ training institutions and centres of excellence.
He named the training centres of excellence as the National Defence College, Abuja; the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Accra; and the training centre in Bamako, Mali.
The DPKRS director said APSA support also helped develop preventive security measures, such as ECOWAS’ Early Warning Systems, as well as their delocalisation to Member States.
Looking back, he said, ECOWAS could have done better with APSA funds, but due to political bottlenecks, it did not use all the resources to achieve what it initially planned.
(NAN)
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