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, stressing that the Sahel had become the epicentre of global terrorism.
