The Economic Community of West African States has announced plans to activate a 260,000-strong rapid deployment counter-terrorism brigade, with an annual funding requirement of $2.5bn.
President of the Commission, Omar Touray, disclosed this at the 2025 African Chiefs of Defence Staff Summit in Abuja, with the theme “Combating Contemporary Threats to Regional Peace and Security in Africa: The Role of Strategic Defence Collaboration.”
Touray, represented by ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Ambassador Abdel-Fatau Musah, said the funds would be used to activate the brigade, provide logistics, and offer financial support to frontline states battling terrorism.
He stressed 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.
Touray said, “There is no gainsaying that West Africa, in particular the Sahel sub-region, has emerged as the epicentre of global terrorism, with several analytical surveys indicating that the Sahel accounted for 51 per cent of global terrorism deaths in 2024 alone.
“On the directive of the ECOWAS heads of Government, the organisation is in the process of activating a 260,000 rapid deployment counter-terrorism brigade and providing logistics and financial support to frontline states facing terrorism.
“While ECOWAS remains firmly committed to raising its 5,000-man brigade under the auspices of the African Peace and Security Architecture and more particularly the Continental Standby Force, the activation of this rapid deployment force has become a necessity given the asymmetric security dynamics in the region. We are conscious of the fact that this bold initiative requires the necessary financial resources and capabilities to make it a reality.
“To this end, ECOWAS will be hosting a meeting of the Ministers of Finance and Defence to agree on the country’s funding modalities to raise an annual budget of $2.5bn for the activation of the regional counter-terrorism force.”
He added that the ministers will be meeting this coming Friday in Abuja to finalise modalities on how to raise the funds.
“By this initiative, ECOWAS is also throwing the gauntlet to bilateral and multilateral partners to complement this daring regional initiative. In particular, we hope that this summit will, through the African Union, send a clarion call to the United Nations to redeem the pledge made under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2719 of December 2023 to fund 75% of African-led peace support operations,” he said.
Beyond counter-terrorism, Touray added that ECOWAS was working to operationalise its integrated maritime security strategy, with three regional maritime centres, an international coordinating hub in Abuja, and measures to counter transnational organised crime.
Former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, speaking at the summit, said Africa is currently contending with more than 1,000 insurgent groups, urging regional blocs to build homegrown defence industries and technologies to confront rising insecurity.
He said, “According to some research work done by the African Research Network for Regional and Global Governance Innovation with headquarters in Savannah Center for Diplomacy, Democracy, and Development here in Nigeria, there are now over 1,000 insurgency groups in Africa, and the number keeps rising and the majority of our regional economic commission are actually dealing with banditry and terrorism and other forms of insurgency.”
Gambari called on African nations to first secure their various nations before securing the region and the continent at large.
According to Gambari, African nations must strengthen defence industries and own their technologies in an effort to address threats.
He further urged African nations to design and build their own security architecture that guarantees human security.
He, however, expressed the hope that “Africa’s collective security can only be enhanced with active, practical, and proactive collaboration at regional and continental levels.
“There must be synergy in military cooperation, promotion of common training, promotion of common doctrinal concepts, sharing of intelligence, the interoperability of armaments, but also capacity building, particularly in air lifting, all of which are essential for operationalisation of the African standby force.
“We must also upgrade and strengthen our defence industries and all our technologies in order to avoid control from external forces.”
Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, called on African nations to forge stronger defence collaborations to confront the continent’s growing and complex security threats.
Musa said Africa is “on the edge of unprecedented opportunity,” driven by its youthful population, vast resources, and innovation potential.
However, he warned that these prospects are being undermined by violent extremism, terrorism, transnational organised crime, piracy, and the effects of climate change on conflict.
“These challenges recognise no borders. They are resilient and demand a response that is equally dynamic, unified, and strategic,” he said.
The CDS noted that the nature of warfare had changed, with threats now extending beyond conventional battlefields into cyberspace and digital domains.
He urged African militaries to modernise through investments in cyber defence, artificial intelligence, and indigenous military technology.
“The enemy is within. As chiefs of defence staff and heads of our armed forces, we must lead the charge in modernising our forces. Without such investments, it will be difficult to achieve the security we desire,” he cautioned.
Musa called for unity, shared intelligence, joint training, and coordinated action to ensure that Africa’s armed forces remain symbols of stability, professionalism, and pride.
“Let us rise above division and embrace unity. Let us build a continent where our people can live free from fear,” he said.
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