ECOWAS AND THE COUNTER-TERRORISM BRIGADE

 The commission should rise above division to fight together

At the 2025 African Chiefs of Defence Staff Summit in Abuja, President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Omar Touray, announced plans to activate a 260,000-strong rapid deployment counter-terrorism force, with an annual funding requirement of $2.5 billion. The fund, according to Touray, would be used to activate the brigade, provide logistics, and offer financial support to frontline states battling terrorism. He noted that the Sahel had become the epicentre of global terrorism, accounting for 51 per cent of related deaths worldwide in 2024 and warned that the growing threats demand an urgent and coordinated continental response. While ECOWAS is committed to also raising its 5,000-man brigade for the Continental Standby Force, he stated that the activation of the rapid deployment force had become crucial given the asymmetric security dynamics in the region. This is a bold and commendable initiative. 

There is no doubt that the subregion is experiencing moments of deep uncertainty. Like many other regional blocs on the continent, the ECOWAS region is being ravaged by all manner of organised crime – from banditry, terrorism, to deadly insurgencies. Former Minister of External Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari, affirmed that Africa is currently contending with a surfeit of insurgent groups – about 1000 of them, while the United Nations (UN) Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, noted similarly that the continent has become the epicenter of global terrorism deaths, and attacks in West Africa’s coastal states have surged by 250 per cent in two years.  

Besides, the region is struggling with growing political instability and military coups which undermine its ability to foster stability and prosperity. “These challenges recognise no borders,” admitted Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa. “They are resilient and demand a response that is equally dynamic, unified, and strategic.”  The enormity of the challenge requires a well-trained and better equipped standing army that can respond to emergencies across the region’s large swathes of land and coast. But a standing army of 260,000 is not a walk in the park. Touray indeed admitted that this bold initiative requires good financial resources and capabilities to make it a reality. According to the United Nations Peacekeeping Organisation, it is immensely costly to have a force of several thousand people on permanent standby. 

Despite its half-century of existence, the regional body is yet to forge a robust economic union. The economies of the individual states are nothing to write home about. Nigeria that largely contributed the resources used by ECOMOG – a formal arrangement for separate armies to work together to restore peace in Liberia, and other countries in the subregion – is not in good shape. Beyond the fact that its economy is down, it is also spending huge resources on a regular basis to fight insurgency and other cocktail of crimes. Its army is stretched to the limits. As Gambari rightly said, it will help greatly for nations to first secure their various states before securing the region and the continent at large.

In addition, infrastructure and air connectivity is still a major problem in the region as it is on the continent. Besides, the unity within the bloc was weakened with the recent exit of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. It is therefore instructive that Mali and Burkina Faso did not bother to attend the summit in Abuja or send representatives. The commission must rise above division and embrace unity to fight together. There is also the need for a bold and serious approach that prioritises inclusivity and political commitment to finally realise ECOWAS’s promise of a standby force. We also hope that the United Nations will redeem its pledge made under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2719 of December 2023 to fund 75 per cent of African-led peace support operations.