The first African Land Forces Summit is currently underway at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton hotel, in Abuja.

The week-long summit is aimed at affording military leaders in the African region the opportunity to strengthen existing relationships and develop new ways of tackling emerging security challenges on the continent.

The summit, according to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, came about following the rising cases of insecurity which has become worrisome in the region.

The summit is being co-hosted with the Nigerian Army and its United States counterparts.

It aims to provide the Nigerian Army the opportunity to showcase its capabilities, project its image and military might to the largest gathering of African senior military leaders on the continent.

Military leaders from almost every country on the continent — including Angola, Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya and Rwanda — were in Abuja, the state capital to exchange notes on threats in Africa, from Al-Shabaab in the east to Boko Haram in the west.

Also, there are representatives from the USA at the summit. </s> The African Land Forces Summit is a week-long seminar bringing together land force chiefs from across Africa for candid dialogue to discuss and develop cooperative solutions as well as improve trans-regional security and stability. The summit provides an opportunity for U.S. participants to hear issues and concerns directly from African land forces leaders. It also provides a forum for our partner land forces to freely express their opinions, concerns, ideas, and goals. (For Radio) </s> The African Continental Free Trade Area launched in Niger Sunday at the opening of the African Union Summit.The agreement, signed by 54 of 55 African nations, will form the largest free trade area in the world. There is much hope that pan-African trade will grow but structural issues are a challenge </s> President orders army to commence security exercise in Southern Kaduna House wants Nigeria to offer asylum to Gambian president

Tobi Soniyi, Damilola Oyedele and Paul Obi in Abuja

 President Muhammadu Buhari will travel to Banjul, the capital of The Gambia, and Bamako, the Malian capital from today, January 13 to 14, 2017.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, who announced this yesterday via a statement said while in Banjul, Buhari, as the Mediator in The Gambia, would meet with President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia and the President-elect, Adama Barrow, to continue dialogue on the political situation in the West African country.

The statement said Buhari would be joined by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and Chairperson of the Authority of Economic Community Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State and Government, President Ernest Koroma of Sierra Leone, and the immediate past President of Ghana, John Mahama, who is the co-meditator of The Gambian mission.

Adesina said Buhari would travel to Bamako later on January 13 to participate in the 27th Africa–France Summit.

 The summit for Partnership, Peace and Emergence convened by French President Francois Hollande is aimed at strengthening cooperation between France and African countries in the areas of peace and security, economic partnership and development.

Recognising the role played by France in the successes so far recorded in the implementation of the regional initiative against terrorism, Adesina said Buhari would reaffirm Nigeria’s commitment to global efforts on the war against terror and underline the need for improved collaboration to address the menace of terrorism in the region.

He said Buhari would use the opportunity of the summit to underscore the efforts government was making to improve Nigeria’s business environment to attract more foreign direct investment.

Adesina said the president would be accompanied by Governors Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Defence.

Meanwhile, ahead of the ECOWAS mediation meeting today with President Buhari, the House of Representatives yesterday urged president to provide an offer of asylum in Nigeria to President Jammeh as a way to boost mediation into the current presidential conundrum threatening to cause unrest in the coastal committee.

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Hon. Sani Zorro (Jigawa APC) who said such open offer would strengthen the hands of the mediators.

“Grant him asylum, and his family, if that would restore peace to The Gambia, if that is what it would take, then Nigeria should be ready for it,” Zorro said.

 The Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hon. Nnenna Elendu Ukeje, said the motion is in line with Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives.

Nigeria would be required to intervene and solve whatever problems arise from the impasses, Ukeje said, adding that creating a soft landing through asylum, may provide an alternative.

 “If it comes to this, so that The Gambia does not degenerate into another unstable African country,” she said.

 Some lawmakers opposed the motion on grounds that the offer would send a wrong signal to dictators with sit-tight syndrome.

The Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara, however urged such lawmakers to critically examine their position, noting that the offer of asylum to Jammeh does not indicate support for dictatorship.

 “If it is put before him and he rejects it, fine, but it will clear that the people of Nigeria, through the parliament offered such.”

“If crises erupts in that country and refugees spill over, can we handle it while also dealing with our IDPs? If it comes to confrontation, Nigeria will be required to put boots on the ground. Can we afford that? Our military is already engaged in the North-east, in the Niger Delta and now in Southern Kaduna. So let us be guided,” Dogara advised.

Hon. Sam Onuigbu (Abia PDP) said the offer is a cheaper and safer option, as Nigerians are well invested in Gambia.

 “We did a similar thing in Liberia, and today Liberia is being celebrated as a growing democracy. We all know if there is trouble, Nigeria would be required to intervene,” he said.

The Minister for Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, has said there is no decision yet on whether Nigeria will deploy forces to The Gambia should President Jammeh refuses to step down on January 19 when his mandate would have expired.

 Dan-Ali made this disclosure yesterday while briefing State House Correspondents after a lengthy security meeting he and service chiefs had with the president at the Presidential Villa, Aso Rock, Abuja.

The minister said that the meeting deliberated on the security situation in the country.

 He said: “Major security issue were discussed and we were able to come to conclusion on almost all the crises that are going on across the country. The Southern Kaduna, the Niger Delta issues and other major crisis areas were discussed and resolutions were passed.

“Like I said, in the Southern Kaduna, we have our troops being moved and they have already taken places, operation is going on and I believe that very soon it will come to an end.”

Asked whether the meeting discussed The Gambia issue, the minister said “That is not a national issue and I believe the ECOWAS are working on that, we have not reached any conclusion on that.”

Also speaking, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Gen. Tukur Buratai, said the president had ordered the commencement of an army exercise code-named ‘Kunama II’ in Southern Kaduna in order to bolster the security situation in that axis.

Buratai explained that the exercise would cover parts of Plateau and Kano States.

 He added that the army was still pursuing all its operations in the North-east, South-south and South-eastern parts of the country.

Asked about the progress report from Sambisa, Buratai said: “We are continuing our operations in that area, Lafiya Dole mandate and the troops are still moving all over the area.”

On whether he had received any new directive from the president, the COAS said.

 On deployment of troops to Kaduna, he said “Our troops are already in Southern Kaduna. We have our special forces operating there along with all other security agencies and we intend also to have an exercise very soon in Southern Kaduna to cover some parts of Plateau and indeed part of Kano State.

Also, in a move to douse tension, the Nigerian Army, has said it was not planning to attack any foreign country, neither the Republic of Gambia, where President Buhari is expected in the West African nation today.

 The clarification came amid speculations of a possible military intervention by ECOWAS to be spearheaded by Nigeria should the outgoing President Jammeh failed to relinquish power after losing in last year presidential polls.

According to Director of Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Sani Usman, there was no iota of truth in such statement.

 He said: The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to a publication by online news organisation’ indicating the readiness of Nigerian Army to attack Gambia with the intention “to remove Jammeh.”

Usman added: “This is not true. Consequently, Nigerian Army wishes to disassociate itself from such false information that exists only in the figment of the imagination of the medium. There was no time or place Nigerian Army disclosed such information to the medium.

“If there is any, we challenge them to name the officer or soldier that gave them such information and when. For the avoidance of doubt, Nigerian Army is not planning to attack any country.

 “It should be noted that such reckless and unprofessional conduct is not expected of any reputable and responsible news medium as it is inimical to national security.”

Usman further stated: “The publication apart from being false in its entirety, it is unethical and capable of endangering the lives of Nigerians in diaspora.

 “The medium is please requested to always clarify such matters affecting national security and diplomatic issues that may endanger the safety and security of Nigerians abroad to avoid such misleading and embarrassing publication,” he maintained. </s> Leaders from 44 African countries on Wednesday signed an agreement to form a $2.5 trillion continental free-trade zone, but Nigeria was absent.

The free-trade zone is the largest in the world since the creation of the World Trade Organisation in 1995.

Deliberations on the free-trade zone begun in 2015 and was originally projected to capture 55 countries.

At the African Union summit in Kigali, Rwanda, Paul Kagame, host president, declared the meeting a success after initial negotiations were concluded.

President Muhammadu Buhari had been initially scheduled to attend the summit and sign the agreement after the federal executive council gave its approval at its March 14 meeting.

The trip was cancelled on Sunday, March 18 and the presidency did not give a reason for the development. </s> (AP) — Several African heads of state have gathered in Niger’s capital to launch a continentwide free trade area.

The African Continental Free Trade Area aims to create a single unified market for the continent’s 1.3 billion people and to boost economic development in an estimated market of $3.4 trillion.

Plans for the free trade zone received a boost last week when Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, became the 25th country to ratify the trade agreement.

The general agreement has been signed by 54 of Africa’s 55 countries, with only Eritrea not signing up.

The location of the zone’s headquarters and a timeline for the start of trading are expected to be announced at the African Union summit in Niamey on Sunday. </s> The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has formally approved the deployment of troops to The Gambia.

In a statement signed by Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Mr Mohammed Dan-Ali, the federal government explained that ECOWAS decided in a meeting to use its standby force in upholding the result of the presidential election held in The Gambia in December 2016, which produced Mr Adama Barrow as winner.

The Minister added that in line with the ECOWAS directive, the Nigerian military would deploy its assets to protect the people of The Gambia and maintain regional peace and security. </s> Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Benin's President Patrice Talon on Sunday signed a landmark trade agreement ahead of the accord's official launch at the African Union (AU) summit in Niger.

AU commission chairman Moussa Faki dubbed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) deal a "historic" moment.

Read more: Africa's vision for the future – much more than a free trade deal

Fifty-four out of 55 AU member states agreed to the deal in March, with only Eritrea holding out. It took African leaders four years to reach an agreement on the continental free-trade zone, which is expected to usher in a new era of development in Africa.

The AfCFTA is the largest trade bloc since the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1994.

Focus on Africa

"The eyes of the world are turned to Africa," Egyptian President and AU chairman Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said at the summit's opening ceremony on Sunday.

"AfCFTA will reinforce our negotiating position on the international stage. It will represent an important step," he added.

Read more: Egypt President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi takes over chair of African Union

'AfCFTA will represent an important step,' says AU chairman el-Sissi (L)

The African free-trade bloc will help boost the continent's long-stymied economy by strengthening interregional trade and supply chains.

The free-trade zone should be operational from July 2020, AU trade and industry commissioner Albert Muchanga told the AFP news agency.

Read more: Can Africa benefit from US-China trade spat?

Major obstacles

Economic experts say the AU still faces significant challenges in implementing the deal. Poor roads and railway lines, violence-hit areas, strict border controls and rampant corruption are some of the obstacles to an effective continental free-trade zone.

AU member countries agreed to eliminate tariffs on most goods, which would boost regional trade by 15-25% in the medium term. It could be doubled in the long term if other issues were dealt with, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"Reducing tariffs alone is not sufficient," it said.

"It will be important to address those disparities to ensure that special and differential treatments for the least developed countries are adopted and successfully implemented," said Landry Signe, a fellow at the Brookings Institution's Africa Growth Initiative.

The IMF said in a May report that the AfCFTA could be an "economic game changer" for Africa – of a similar kind to the one that boosted growth in Europe and North America.

Amaka Anku, Africa analyst at Eurasia group, said the deal was a positive step but AfCFTA was still "a long way from taking off."

African nations currently trade only about 16% of their goods and services among one another, compared with 65% for the European Union member states.

Watch video 01:26 Share Africa's free trade agreement set to enter final stretch Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3LfRN Africa's free trade agreement set to enter final stretch

shs/ng (AFP, Reuters)

Every evening, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. </s> JOHANNESBURG - Several African heads of state gathered in Niger's capital Sunday to launch a continentwide free trade area that represents an estimated market of $3.4 trillion.

The African Continental Free Trade Area aims to create a single unified market for the continent's 1.3 billion people and to boost economic development.

Plans for the free trade zone received a boost last week when Africa's largest economy, Nigeria, became the 25th country to ratify the trade agreement.

The general agreement has been signed by 54 of Africa's 55 countries, with only Eritrea not signing up.

The location of the zone's headquarters and a timeline for the start of trading are expected to be announced at the African Union summit in Niger's capital.

The goal of the new free trade area is to significantly increase trade within Africa. Currently, African countries conduct only 16% of their trade with each other, compared to 65% among European countries, according to the African Union.

Africa already has several smaller regional trading areas, including the East African Community, the Southern African Development Community, the West African Economic Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

Many hurdles remain to creating an effective continent-wide trading area, including a lack of transportation infrastructure and border restrictions.

Another item to be discussed at the African Union summit is security in Niger and the surrounding Sahel region, which has seen a rise in jihadist violence.

The G5-Sahel security group, made up of Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, was expected to encourage AU leaders to press the United Nations for more support fighting extremist violence.
The African Land Forces Summit opens in Abuja, Nigeria. Present are military delegations from 30 African nations plus representatives from Europe and the United States.