African Nations Urged to Engage with Ethiopia to Share Peacekeeping Experiences

Addis Ababa, October 17, 2024 (FBC) – A senior official of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) urged African nations to engage with Ethiopia to share experiences, as the country exemplifies leadership in peace and security matters.

Speaking to local newswire service ENA, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah said expressed his gratitude to the government of Ethiopia for hosting African Defense Ministers’ Conference in Addis Ababa.

He praised the country’s commitment to peace and stability, emphasizing the importance of such gatherings in strengthening regional cooperation.

Stating Ethiopia is a major troop-contributing country to both the United Nations and Africa, he said “We have known the role of Ethiopia in Somalia and in many other conflict zones, not only in Africa, but around the world.

“It is very important that the other countries of Africa can come here to share experiences with Ethiopia, because Ethiopia is a leader,” in this regard, he urged.

Mentioning Ethiopia is also the host of the African Union, which serves as the continental umbrella he said, adding “From all angles, it’s very important that people come here to learn from what Ethiopia has achieved in terms of peace and security.”

Noting the conference’s significance amidst the challenges facing not only Africa but the entire globe, he stated, “Look at what is happening in Sudan, Libya, and the Sahel. All these developments pose major existential threats to the continent.”

Thus, it is commendable that Ethiopia, always as leader on the continent, was able to attract African defense ministers to exchange views on the implications of these global dynamics, Musah, added.

This platform enables us to develop strategies to stabilize Africa and tackle the worsening insecurity we are witnessing across the continent.

Speaking about the need for strong security institutions in Africa, he stated that under the African Union, the African Peace and Security Architecture has been operationalized, with the African Standby Force at its center.

The commissioner recalled that the five regions have established regional standby forces that are currently being developed.

For instance, ECOWAS will soon hold a meeting of defense and finance ministers to discuss how to operationalize the counter-terrorism force in the region in response to ongoing challenges.

Moreover, he added that there have been development, for example, at the United Nations, where the Security Council has agreed to support African led peace operations with predictable funding.

The regions and the AU will have to sit down and then see how we can take advantage of these opportunities in order to advance what is the standing up of the African Standby Force to fight against the insecurity that we are having, he underlined.

“Security and development are very linked, if we are not able to stabilize the region, we are going to find a very difficult to develop and to integrate our young people into the development projects of Africa.”