ECOWAS, AU Sign Agreement on African Standby Force
The President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency General Birame Diop, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Union (AU) and other regional blocs to strengthen coordination on the African Standby Force.
President Diop signed the agreement on behalf of the ECOWAS Commission during the Fifth Political Session of the Inter-Regional Knowledge Exchange on Early Warning and Conflict Prevention (I-RECKE), held in El Alamein, Egypt, on October 3, 2026.
The session was held on the sidelines of the 8th Semester Coordination Meeting, bringing together representatives of the AU, regional economic communities and regional mechanisms.
The MoU establishes a framework outlining the roles and responsibilities of the AU and regional economic communities and mechanisms in the preparation, deployment, mobilisation and post-mobilisation phases of the African Standby Force.
Under the agreement, regional forces maintained on standby will be available for deployment under an AU mandate for peace support operations and in response to complex emergency situations.
The agreement was also signed by representatives of the African Union, the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the North African Regional Capability (NARC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The agreement is intended to strengthen coordination among continental and regional institutions in preparing and mobilising regional forces for peace and security operations across Africa.
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