The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been following through with plans to build up a joint counter-terrorism force to improve security in the region, which has been plagued by violence in recent years.
For years, several countries in West Africa have been battling security concerns, including insurgencies and clashes between farmers and herders. The situation has led to killings and the widespread destruction of property.
According to ECOWAS leadership, member states have been aiming to deploy more than a quarter of a million troops annually, at a cost of around 2.5 billion U.S. dollars. This comes after plans to form the joint force were agreed to in August.
Security analysts believe putting together troops from various nations to address the challenges is a step in the right direction.
"The effort by ECOWAS now is actually commendable because without security, whatever we are talking about economic integration, we are not going to see the effect of it. Indigenous of the member states of ECOWAS have gone through a number of, would I say, warfare, insurgency, crisis, and they have been displaced from their natural homes and are now living in internally displaced peoples camps, scattered all over the region," said Daniel Obla, security analyst in Nigeria.
According to ECOWAS, the region, especially the Sahel sub-region, has become the epicentre of terrorism globally, accounting for 51 percent of global terrorism deaths in 2024.
According to former Nigerian external affairs minister and ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Gambari, Africa has been contending with over 1,000 insurgent groups.
Security analysts say the plans by ECOWAS to deploy over 250,000 troops annually has great potential of ensuring a more peaceful region.
However, they believe the organization's efficacy in this regard may suffer from the withdrawal of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, who pulled out of the bloc in January this year
"Some of the security gaps will occur in some of these nations, and since you don't have a good rapport with them, how do you share intelligence? If we are able to get almost 300 from 13 strong members of ECOWAS, I imagine we would have gotten maybe 400,000 troops on ground if Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger had not pulled out," Obla said.
The organization has been engaging member states on how to raise funds for the counter-terrorism force, and also been working towards sustained dialogue and reconciliation to persuade the three countries to return.
ECOWAS prepares activation of joint counter-terrorism force of 260,000 troops
