The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and other regional organisations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen and streamline the deployment of the African Standby Force (ASF).
President of the ECOWAS Commission, Gen. Birame Diop, signed the agreement on behalf of the West African regional bloc in El Alamein, Egypt, during the fifth Policy Session of the Inter-Regional Knowledge Exchange on Early Warning and Conflict Prevention (I-RECKE).
The signing took place on the sidelines of the eighth AU Mid-Year Coordination Meeting.
The MoU provides an operational framework clarifying the roles, responsibilities and command arrangements between the AU and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Regional Mechanisms (RMs) throughout the standby force management process.
The framework covers key stages including force preparation, logistics, troop deployment and employment, as well as post-deployment activities.
Under the new arrangement, regional standby brigades will undergo coordinated training and harmonisation before receiving formal mandates from the AU to undertake Peace Support Operations (PSOs).
The forces are also expected to provide a coordinated response to complex humanitarian and security emergencies across the continent.
Other regional organisations that endorsed the agreement alongside the AU and ECOWAS include the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the North African Regional Capacity (NARC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The agreement is expected to improve coordination between the continental body and regional blocs while strengthening Africa’s capacity to respond collectively to emerging conflicts and humanitarian crises.
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