Africa must deal with security threats collectively

Accra, April 7, GNA- The Chief of Army Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), Major-General Samuel Odotei, on Monday called on African states to collaborate efforts to enable them to effectively deal with threats to peace and stability on the continent and globally. He noted that the changing trends in global security, particularly terrorism and global warming, which "knew no borders", necessitated Africa to confront these issues head-on to mitigate their impact on society.

Maj. Gen. Odotei was speaking in Accra at the opening of the four-day Final Planning Conference for "Africa Endeavour 2008" scheduled for July this year in Nigeria. "Africa Endeavour" is an initiative led by the United States European Command, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union (AU) and development partners. The programme was aimed at addressing issues of inter-operability of command, control, communication and information systems within the armed forces of the AU countries to enhance the operations of its Africa Standby Force (ASF).

It sought to encourage information sharing, lay the necessary foundation for collaboration of communications links, improve inter-operability and increase understanding among African militaries to avert future conflicts. Maj. Gen. Odotei said the ASF would not be a potent force unless it had workable and reliable command, control, communications and information systems, since they provided the hub for information sharing.

He urged participants at the conference to be more committed to formulating a sound concept for the command, control and inter-operability standards of the ASF. The July training exercise in Nigeria would aim at showing the operational relevance of "Africa Endeavour," plan, install, operate and maintain a communication set-up capable of supporting all ASF operations.

The Accra planning conference sought to review, test and support plans to identify challenges for the Nigeria exercise. Over 100 military and civilian personnel from about 24 African nations are attending the Accra conference. 7 April 08