CRDF Global hosts West Africa Security Conference in Accra, Ghana

CRDF Global hosted a regional conference on the 29th to 30th of July 2024 in Accra, Ghana to address the political, economic, reputational, and natural resource costs associated with procuring security services and weapons from proliferator states and engaging with illicit Private Military Companies (PMCs).

Over 40 participants from government, the armed forces, civil society and media gathered for two days of discussions and debate on the security landscape in West Africa. They were briefed on PMC operations and logistics networks, and how these groups affect local communities and influence national politics and sovereignty. The training also covered United States sanctions which seek to prevent the deployment, financing, and logistics mechanisms of illicit PMCs operating in the region.

International experts introduced international best practices such as the Montreux Document and the ICoCA Code of Conduct regulating PMCs. The agenda also included sessions on security actors operating in West Africa’s extractives sector and PMCs operating in the maritime sector. Participants received actionable, open-source information covering the deployment, financing, illicit arms transfers, and logistical intricacies of these entities to conduct further investigations. The attendees participated in interactive exercises to conduct due diligence on private security providers, and to plan paths forward toward a more secure future.

CRDF Global partnered with speakers from the Catalyst ESG Consulting, Conflict Armament Research, Foreign Policy Research Institute, International Code of Conduct Association, RUSI Europe, Stellenbosch University, West Africa Centre for Counter-Extremism, and the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries.

CRDF Global implemented this training with the generous support of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction. This programing built on previous CRDF Global engagements in Africa, Europe and Latin America on countering illicit PMCs. To learn more about our work, please visit https://www.crdfglobal.org/what-we-do/cbrne-security-counterproliferation/.