The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has initiated a capacity needs assessment workshop to strengthen collaboration with its Training Centres of Excellence (TCE) and Training Institutes (TI). This three-day event started on April 8, 2025, in Abuja, Nigeria, and aims to address capacity gaps for improved service delivery to ECOWAS member states.
Opening the workshop, the ECOWAS Director for Peacekeeping and Regional Security (DPKRS), represented by Acting Head of Division for Peace Support Operations, Dr. Sani Adamu, emphasized the importance of strengthening ECOWAS’s training infrastructure. Dr. Adamu highlighted the need for customized training for armed and security services in response to various regional security challenges, including insurgencies, terrorism, and banditry.
Teresa Krafft of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), representing Yvonne Akpasom, Head of the ECOWAS Peace, Security, and Governance (EPSG) Project, stated that the project aims to support ECOWAS in facing security and governance issues in West Africa. This includes improving conflict early warning and response systems, security sector reform, and integrating concerns relating to women, youth, peace, and security.
“This Workshop unites us with a shared goal of strengthening the cooperation system between ECOWAS and the Training Centres of Excellence to enable them to respond effectively to their core mandate and emerging challenges within the region,” Krafft said.
During the workshop, participants are examining the initial findings of the Capacity Needs Assessment to identify crucial gaps faced by various TCEs and TIs. Reverend John Nkum Associates facilitated the workshop. The EPSG project, derived from the ECOWAS Peace and Security Architecture and Operations (EPSAO), receives financial support from the European Union and the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
