African Conference of Commandants

 

Statement on the Hosting of the Second African Conference of Commandants in Ghana

 

 

Ghana is hosting the Second African Conference of Commandants (ACOC) of Command and Staff Colleges this month from 27-31 October at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College at Teshie in Accra.

The annual Conference was established in 2007 to promote cooperation and coordination among the various military staff colleges on the continent, identify areas of support, assistance and commonalities in the effective training of senior military students and also to lend support towards the establishment and operation of the African Standby Force (ASF).

The first ACOC meeting was held in South Africa in November last year at which it was decided that Ghana host this second conference. This month’s conference has been expanded to include commandants of other staff colleges not invited to the first meeting as well as senior military officials of countries projecting to establish their own colleges in the near future.

Delegates and observers are expected from Egypt, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, the African Union, ECOWAS and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Others are Botswana, Cameroon, Namibia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Institute of Security Studies of South Africa.

Issues to be discussed at the Accra conference include planning a future continental level combined joint training exercise (CJAX) to fine-tune processes, procedures and tactics towards the realization of the ASF and building interoperability between African militaries.

The opening ceremony of the conference will be performed by the Minister for Defence, Hon Albert Kan-Dapaah.

 

Accra
24 October 2008