Joint Communiqué by HR/VP Federica Mogherini, Neven Mimica and AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Smail Chergui

The European Commission and the African Union Commission have signed today an agreement on €50 million support from the EU’s “African Peace Facility” to the Lake Chad Basin Commission Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in its fight against Boko Haram. Over the past months, countries of the region have made great efforts in providing a coordinated regional response by deploying the MNJTF under the authority of the Lake Chad Basin Commission. The agreement signed today will further strengthen the regional coordination of the response. The European Union support will allow for the construction and maintenance of MNJTF headquarters in Ndjamena as well as of sector Headquarters in Cameroon and Niger. It will also provide transport and communication assets to the force headquarters, allowing for effective coordination and command of military operations. These assets, including vehicles, aerial transportation and reconnaissance capacities and a command, control, communication and information system, will put the central command in a position to co-ordinate operations among troop in their respective territories and help prevent Boko Haram’s ability to move across borders when fighting uncoordinated bilateral operations. For more information and the Joint Communiqué, see here.