The U.S. Africa Command (U.S. AFRICOM) and the Côte d’Ivoire Armed Forces are co-hosting the West Africa Logistics Conference in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
The conference is bringing together 50 West African and U.S military logistics leaders.
According to a statement by the U.S. African Command, the two-day conference, titled “Addressing Regional Logistics Challenges, Collaboration and Solutions,” provides a forum for West African attendees to share their own unique experiences and insights and begin to tailor solutions to common logistics challenges.
“Regional military forces have an important role in working together to create logistics solutions that are durable, impactful, and lasting. The West Africa Logistics Conference offers an opportunity for logisticians from 13 West African nations, as well as the African Union and ECOWAS, to discuss shared challenges, collaborate, and work toward solutions together, and I look forward to continuing our partnerships,” said Rear Admiral George Bresnihan, Director of Logistics for U.S. Africa Command. “I want to thank our partners in the Ivoirian military who have worked with U.S. Africa Command over the past year to help make this important conference happen.”
Delivering opening remarks were Rear Admiral Bresnihan, U.S. Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire Jessica Davis Ba, Côte d’Ivoire’s Director of Cabinet for the Ministry of Defense Jean Paul Malan, and Côte d’Ivoire’s Armed Forces Logistics Director Colonel Major Kirouin Bernabet.
The statement said that over the next two days, panels and partner-led discussions will focus, in part, on institutional capacity building; leveraging logistical data to recognize potential problems and improve operational readiness; resource management and methods for informing senior decision makers about logistics gaps and their potential impacts; and the challenges of preparing for and responding to crises, to include internally displaced persons, famine and food shortages, natural disasters, and pandemics.
Countries and organizations represented at the conference include Benin, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Cameroon, Chad, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States.