US-Europe World Affairs

Official and military leaders from over 40 African countries’ armed-forces, encompassing the representatives of two third of the continent, came to Columbus city -Georgia in the United States to attend  the 10th African Land Forces Summit.

African Land Forces Summit (ALFS) is a multinational annual military event inaugurated in Washington D.C in 2010 with its theme on “Building and Maintaining Strong Relationships”. ALFS is coordinated by the U.S Army Southern European Task Force Africa ‘SETAF-AF’ and is held each year in different parts of Africa and the United States. 

The Summit extensively aims:

• To strengthen the U.S- African’s military partnerships and reaffirm the United States commitment to African continent; 
• To maintain the African continental security, peace and prosperity;
• To enhance interoperability, cooperation, and the joint efforts;
• To discussed range of military interests and work on the transregional security challenges. 

In 2018 the summit was attended not only by most African nations but also by the representatives of the NATO member States. 

“There is a popular saying: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. But, if you want to go far, go together’,” said Rohling. “The United States wants to travel together. The United States Army is committed to being a trusted, dependable partner. We highly value our partnerships. We want to strengthen our partnerships and expand new ones.”expressed Major General Andrew Rohling, Commanding General for U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa in the summit 2022

The next year’s African Land Forces Summit will be held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. 

“We look forward to planning the return of the African Land Forces Summit to the African continent in partnership with Division Gen. Aly Justin Dem and the Ivorian Armed Forces,” remarked Major General Andrew Rohling in the closing ceremony  ALFS 2022