Gerald T. Kuveya
Zimbabwe hosted the 17th African Standby Force (ASF) Annual Training Implementation Workshop in Harare from 1-5 December 2025. The workshop was meant to assess progress in continental peace support operations and review mandate implementation under the 2024-2026 ASF Training Directives. It was attended by senior representatives from the African Union (AU), Regional Economic Communities (RECs), Regional Mechanisms (RMs), Training Centres of Excellence (TCEs) and Strategic Partners (SPs)
Held under the theme “Enhancing Efficiency in Mandate Implementation: Reassessing Capacity Needs Assessments” the workshop examined Africa’s evolving security landscape, the readiness of the ASF, and the need to strengthen training, interoperability and institutional coherence in response to emerging threats such as terrorism, organised crime, cyberattacks, misinformation and climate-driven insecurity.
Officially opening the workshop, the Minister of Defence, Honourable Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, expressed profound gratitude on behalf of the government and the people of Zimbabwe to the African Union and Southern African Development Community for giving the country the opportunity to host this important workshop.
The Minister said the outcomes of the workshop offered a critical opportunity to reassess progress and reinforce the continent’s collective capacity for peace support operations. She stressed that Africa’s conflicts were becoming increasingly complex and required “home-grown, collaborative and well-coordinated interventions” aligned with the AU’s determination of Silencing the Guns by 2063.
“It is critical, during the proceedings, to have a holistic approach and understanding of the obtaining defence and security environment in Africa. This will allow us to understand the root causes of conflict and their impact on peacekeeping and peacebuilding interventions. The challenges we are encountering include terrorism, armed conflicts, recurring natural disasters and human and drug trafficking,” the Minister said.
During deliberations, participants reviewed a thematic presentation delivered by the Consultant and Chief Adviser of the African Peace Support Trainers Association (APSTA), Colonel. Festus Aboagye (Retired), who outlined persistent gaps in ASF mission readiness, planning systems, and vertical and horizontal integration across regions. He cautioned that existing Capacity Needs Assessments (CNAs) had focused too narrowly on training gaps, leaving broader institutional, governance, human rights and civil-military coordination issues insufficiently addressed. His presentation called for transforming CNAs into a continuous, doctrine-led process supported by technology-enabled evaluation tools and improved standardisation across the ASF.
Furthermore, the British Peace Support Team – Africa (BPST-A) representative, Major Ollie Porter, addressed the growing impact of Misinformation, Disinformation and Hate speech (MDH) on peace support operations, force protection and mission legitimacy. He noted skill gaps in analysing information environments and outlined a BPST-A framework centred on recognising, responding to, referring and reporting harmful narratives. AU and regional mechanisms were invited to contribute to curriculum development ahead of a coordination activity scheduled for February 2026.
As part of the workshop, delegates visited the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Regional Peacekeeping Training Centre (RPTC) in Harare, where they were taken on a guided tour of the facility by the Deputy Commandant, Colonel Collin Mafika. The visit allowed participants to familiarise themselves with the Centre’s infrastructure, operational model and its role in supporting regional and continental peace support operations training.
Stakeholders from the AU Commission, RECs/RMs, TCEs/TIs and active missions also reported progress on implementing the ASF Training Directives. They noted improvements in curriculum harmonisation, training coordination and the sharing of lessons learned, while highlighting ongoing gaps in logistics, sustainable funding, doctrinal standardisation, knowledge management and balanced integration of military, police and civilian components. The Strategic partners who were present reaffirmed their continued support for capacity-building, doctrine development and gender-responsive approaches.
The workshop further observed that continent-wide field exercises are critical for validating interoperability and have not been conducted since AMANI Africa II in 2015, raising concerns about deployment readiness. It also noted that inconsistent reporting formats, weak monitoring and evaluation systems, staffing constraints in Planning Elements, and limited access to AU training materials continue to undermine standardisation and institutional memory. Persistent financial constraints among Member States were also identified as a major challenge, resulting in heavy reliance on partners and limiting long-term training predictability.
Closing the workshop, the head of the Zimbabwean delegation, Brigadier General David Charambira Moyo, expressed Zimbabwe’s appreciation for the confidence placed in the country to host the event and encouraged participants to explore Zimbabwe’s hospitality and wished them safe travel back to their stations.
“We are really delighted to host the 17th African Standby Force Annual Training Implementation Workshop. It was an honour to have such a distinguished delegation here in Zimbabwe, and we are grateful that SADC saw it fit that Zimbabwe, by virtue of having the Regional Peacekeeping Training Centre, hosts the workshop,” he said.
The 18th ASF Annual Training Implementation Workshop is scheduled to be hosted by the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) region in 2026. The ECCAS is comprised of eleven member countries, namely Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and São Tomé and Príncipe.
