Ghana host African Land Forces Summit in Accra

Record ID: 1969071

  • Title: Ghana host African Land Forces Summit in Accra
  • Date: 8th April 2025
  • Summary: Ghana host African Land Forces Summit in Accra SHOTLIST ACCRA, GHANA (APRIL 7, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL) 1. WAVING FLAG OF GHANA AND USA 2. VARIOUS OF MILITARY PARADE 3. VARIOUS OF OFFICIALS AND SOLDIERS PARTICIPATING IN AFRICAN LAND FORCES SUMMIT 4. VARIOUS OF AFRICAN LAND FORCES SUMMIT 5. VARIOUS OF SPEAKERS TAKING THEIR SEATS 6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) (US AMBASSADOR TO GHANA VIRGINIA E. PALMER, SAYING: "It gives me a chance to say, you know again, the defense, diplomacy and development need to be integrated and layered, and there has been a review of foreign assistance to make sure that it made America a more prosperous, more secure and stronger. And I have always believed that those things must be integrated and that foreign assistance done right makes our partners more stronger, more secure and more prosperous, and the US stronger, more secure and more prosperous." "...It makes the United States strong, and it will have the same effect for our partners if done right. So our security assistance with Ghana is maintained at levels that it's been at for several years. And we learn a lot from that partnership. And I appreciate that partnership. And we are more secure and safer. We have a defense cooperation agreement with Ghana that benefits us in case of emergency situations. And that's available online. If anybody wants to see it. We really appreciate that that ongoing partnership, our life saving development assistance has continued and, will continue the coastal state security mechanism in particular, is still under review. It's one of the few last things that are still being reviewed. But those, things are very important, I think, to our partners, but also to our security and for, for both countries." 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAJOR GENERAL ANDREW C. GAINEY, COMMANDER, US ARMY SOUTHERN EUROPE AND AFRICA COMMAND, SAYING: "What I will say up front is what we do when we do operations with our partners, the general Tanu. It is African led, where we enable general Tanu with every, resource that he needs to be able to achieve operational independence. What that means is we work closely with his forces, with the Security Forces Assistance Brigade. We work on border control. We work on counterterrorism with them. We work to train as soldiers on intelligence gaps. We have a tremendous amount of, military training that we do side by side, with whatever he request. And we go back and evaluate the gaps, the security gaps. And if they're more, areas that he identifies, we work closely with them. This is what the office form this week discusses. We will discuss a lot of these issues. Security challenges. What faces it? What nations are having difficulty with it. And we as an organization in the U.S. Army, work closely with our partners, specifically here in Ghana, to address the gaps with what we've been doing over the course of the year." 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) GHANA'S CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF, MAJOR GENERAL LAWRENCE KWAKU GBETANU, SAYING: "Challenges of, African, land forces. Basically has to do with the resources. That is why we have some collaboration and partnership with, some of the advanced country to see how they can support this with, logistics and also capacity building. This summit also afforded the opportunity for their commanders also to identify some challenges that they encounter in the, individually armed forces. And then we see how best we can harmonies it. In my initial engagement, we've had, you know, I mean, we had this case that had the outcomes of, this summit, would have to be packaged in such a way that we would develop an action plan or a mechanism for follow up so that we then don't just finish the summit." "The outcomes are well identified, recommendations made, and maybe that is the by a mechanism after our action review and mechanism and an action plan to actually do a follow up on how we pursue that various, recommendations until we meet again for the next, summit. And then a review will be done on how far we have gone with previous recommendations and outcome, and it will chart the way forward for subsequent, summits." SCRIPT One of Africa's most important defense and security gatherings, the African Land Forces Summit (ALFS), began on Monday April 7 in Accra, the capital of the West African nation of Ghana. The summit, attended by senior military officials from some 40 countries and nearly 300 personnel, brought together military leaders to discuss critical regional security issues. It aims to strengthen cooperation between land forces and find solutions to common security challenges across the continent. The annual summit brings together land force commanders, country representatives, academics and other government officials from across Africa, and this year's theme is "Optimizing Land Forces for the Evolving Security Environment". At the summit, senior land force commanders from African nations will have the opportunity to strengthen relationships, exchange information on current security issues and enhance cooperation in tackling common threats. In her opening remarks, US Ambassador to Ghana Virginia E. Palmer underscored the critical importance of aligning and strengthening militaries to effectively counter emerging threats that seek to destabilize nations and regions. Ambassador Palmer also highlighted Ghana's continued role as an important democratic model in a context where security challenges and violent extremism threaten the stability and prosperity of the region. "As the United States, we are proud to co-host this summit with Ghana and to support our partners across the African continent in this important endeavor," she said. Major General Andrew C. Gainey, Commander, US Army Southern Europe and Africa Command (SETAF-AF), emphasized the importance of the Summit in developing innovative solutions to common security challenges. General Gainey expressed his gratitude to the Ghanaian Armed Forces, stating, "I would like to thank the Ghanaian Armed Forces for their co-hosting. They have laid the foundation for a successful summit. I look forward to a productive and impactful week with all our distinguished guests." Ghana's Chief of Army Staff, Major General Lawrence Kwaku Gbetanu, also highlighted that the summit’s panels, sessions, and bilateral discussions aim to take concrete steps toward enhancing regional security. Summit participants will interact with Ghanaian culture and watch a military demonstration by the Ghanaian Armed Forces, in addition to plenary sessions and group discussions.
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