The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has announced plans to deploy 1,650 personnel from its Standby Force (ESF) in 2026 as part of a new sub-regional counterterrorism initiative.
This decision follows an agreement by ECOWAS Ministers of Finance and Defence on the funding modalities during a recent meeting held in Abuja, Nigeria.
Speaking at the opening of a two-day strategic meeting with the National Defence College (Nigeria) and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (Ghana) on Monday, September 15, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, H.E. Abdel-Fatau Musah, said the deployment will form part of a larger 5,000-strong ESF Brigade, the West African component of the African Standby Force.
The 1,650 personnel will constitute a Rapid Deployment Force, tasked with supporting ECOWAS Member States in combating terrorism and violent extremism. Ambassador Musah emphasized that West Africa’s security landscape is increasingly defined by terrorist threats, which are expanding beyond the Sahel into coastal states. He cited Mali as a case in point, where insurgencies have shifted from the north to central regions and the western borders with Mauritania and Senegal.
“Terrorism is now an existential threat,.The Ministers’ decision, once ratified, will initiate the deployment of this counterterrorism force, leveraging years of training by our regional Training Centres of Excellence,” Ambassador Musah warned.
To ensure the force’s operational readiness, the TCEs will continue to deliver key training programmes, including Staff Officers Courses (SOC) and Protection of Civilians (POC) modules, aligned with a capacity needs assessment conducted earlier this year.
Deputy Commandant of KAIPTC, Brigadier General Ziblim Bawa Ayorrogo, highlighted the Centres’ shared responsibility to remain “responsive, innovative, and collaborative.” He said the meeting aimed to foster synergies, share best practices, and build a unified training ecosystem in support of ECOWAS’s peace and security objectives.
Also speaking at the event, Ghana’s Representative of the ECOWAS President, Ambassador Muhammed Gana, noted that the initiative comes at a critical time, as insecurity in the Sahel increasingly threatens coastal countries. He called for renewed political will to address the root causes of instability and urged more proactive crisis management in the face of a rapidly evolving global security landscape.
Other dignitaries in attendance included Air Vice-Marshal Ayodele Ibrahim Hanidu (representing the Commandant of Nigeria’s National Defence College), Dr. Cyriaque Agnekethom (ECOWAS Director of Peacekeeping and Regional Security), and senior officials from ECOWAS, KAIPTC and the NDC.
