African Land Forces Summit Kicks Off

ENA February 18/2020 The 8th African Land Forces Summit kicked off here under the theme “tomorrow’s security demands leadership today.” 

The Ethiopian National Defense Force and the U.S Army Africa co-hosted the four-day summit.  

In his opening remark, Chief of Staff of Ethiopian National Defense Force, General Adem Mohammed said the continent experiences security threats, organized crimes, armed conflicts, violence perpetrated by extremist organizations.

Cooperation is therefore needed to confront regional and continental security issues, the chief of staff, added.  

General Adem stated that this complex threat is diverse in nature and it has become regional and international security threat which needs strong cooperation to ensure the benefit of the African people.  

According to him, Ethiopia has made historic investment in peace and the national defense force attaches great importance to issues of peace and security.

This summit is an opportunity for military leaders to explore the importance of developing defense institutions that would enable to create professional and accountable military forces, the chief of staff pointed out.

General Michael Garrett, United States Forces Commander, said on his part the summit has terrific representation of over 40 countries which provides tremendous opportunity for building partnership between the forces.

“These partnerships are important because we operate in a complex dynamic world. The security challenges we face are diverse, and African nations contend with some of the most challenges in the world, insurgencies, armed conflicts, illicit trafficking, piracy, organized crime, and violent extremist organizations,” he noted.

The threats have no boundaries and require significant cooperation and strong partnership, Garrett said, adding that land forces in this regard have important role in addressing these challenges in collaboration with civilian leadership to develop solution that are not only military focused but solutions that focus on long-term objectives, including diplomatic, economic and developmental effort.

“We are committed to building our partner nations’ capabilities across a wide range of functions and sharing information with you to increase your effectiveness,” the commander stated.   

The summit is expected to create a unique opportunity for US and African partner land forces to solidify relationships and cooperate in addressing challenges.