ECOWAS strengthens regional security with new early warning centre in Cabo Verde

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the government of Cabo Verde have inaugurated a National Coordination Centre for the Early Warning Mechanism to strengthen efforts to prevent conflicts and address emerging security threats in the region.

The centre, known as CNMAP, was inaugurated in Praia, Cabo Verde, on October 30, making the country the ninth ECOWAS member state to establish a national early warning centre.

The initiative is expected to strengthen national and regional capacities to monitor security threats, anticipate potential conflicts and safeguard human security.

The inauguration ceremony was presided over by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, General Birame Diop, and Cabo Verde's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Communities and National Defence, Dr Manuel Augusto Amante da Rosa.

Other officials who attended included the Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission, Anthony Oluwatosin Ogunjimi; the Auditor-General of ECOWAS Institutions, Dr Carla Bettencourt; and the Director of the National Coordination Centre, Captain Armindo Graça.

In their respective remarks, the officials highlighted the importance of national ownership, institutional collaboration and regional cooperation in strengthening the bloc's capacity to prevent conflicts.

The establishment of the centre forms part of efforts to implement the ECOWAS Early Warning and Response Network (ECOWARN), which seeks to bring security risk monitoring and analysis closer to national institutions and local communities.

It will also strengthen the link between national early warning systems and the regional mechanism to support timely responses to emerging security threats.

The initiative is anchored in the 1999 Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security.

It also aligns with ECOWAS Vision 2050, which seeks to promote regional integration, peace and security through preventive action and evidence-based decision-making.