EU funds keep African security missions afloat

Rwanda gets €20m for Mozambique mission, Somalia €40m for army

ANALYSIS | IAN KATUSIIME | In spite of concerns that the European Union was slashing its budgets for African military operations to fund Ukraine’s fledgling defence against the Russian invasion now in its third year, the EU has maintained funding for a number of military operations in African countries for peace and security efforts.

On Nov.18, the European Union provided €20 million to the Rwandan security assistance mission in Mozambique to boost the efforts against insurgents in the Cabo Delgado province. In a press statement, the European Council said the aid is from the European Peace Facility to continue supporting the the Rwanda Defence Force who deployed in Mozambique in 2021 on the country’s invitation.

Rwanda sent an additional 2500 troop contingent this year to bolster the 1000 that were initially deployed.

“This support will enable the acquisition of personal equipment, and cover costs related to the strategic airlift needed to sustain the Rwandan deployment in Cabo Delgado,” the statement said.

The European Peace Facility was established in March 2021 to finance EU external actions with military or defence implications, with the aim of preventing conflict, preserving peace and strengthening international security and stability. In Africa, the EPF supports military operations in Somalia, Central Africa Republic, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast and Ghana.

The additional support adopted further complements the parallel assistance measure worth €89 million for the Mozambican Armed Forces previously trained by the EU Training Mission (EUTM) Mozambique.

Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said the presence of the Rwanda Defence Force troops has been instrumental to make progress and remains key, especially given the recent withdrawal of the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM).

“This top-up measure is a testimony of the EU’s support to ‘African solutions for African problems’ and, as part of the global fight against terrorism, it will also serve EU interests in the region,” he said.

In December 2022, the EU provided €20 million to the RDF for the same mission. The support enabled the acquisition of collective and personal equipment, and covered costs related to the strategic airlift needed to sustain the Rwandan deployment in Cabo Delgado.

However some critics say this financial support is not essential for the operations of the Rwandan army in Mozambique.

“The EU EPF support would constitute de facto budget support, which is hard to trace and also remains fungible – i.e. that it frees up more money for the Rwandan army, which then could be potentially used in Eastern DRC,” said Kristof Titeca, a professor at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

Somalia

In April, the EU disbursed €70 million for the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and €40m for the Somali National Army (SNA). “Both actions aim at contributing to the handover of security responsibilities from ATMIS to the SNA, by allowing the former to fulfil its mandate while strengthening the capacities of the latter,” a press statement from the European Council read. For the SNA, the support went mostly to the provision of non-lethal equipment.

Previous support to the SNA under the EPF amounts to €50 million. Last year, Annette Weber, EU Special Representative for the Horn of Africa, said there had been slow progress in implemeting some of the benchmarks leading to the troop drawdown the EU was backing.

But Weber went ahead and announced that the EU was giving €85 million to ATMIS and €33 million for its civilian and police components for 2023 and 2024.

The EU has been the largest direct contributor to ATMIS with nearly €2.7 billion since 2007 when the mission was known as African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The EU council stated that In line with the EU’s Integrated Approach to external conflicts and crises, EPF funding for ATMIS is one element of a “broader, coordinated and coherent engagement of the EU to support security and peace in Somalia,” and in the Horn of Africa at large.

It is notably paired with capacity-building support to the SNA, with the aim of allowing a handover of security responsibilities. The EU support to Somalia in this regard is in line with relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and with the Somali Transition Plan.

ATMIS will cease operations on December 31, 2024 and a new mission known as African Union Support and Stabilisation Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) will take over on January 1, 2025. AUSSOM will be eligible for financial support from the 27-member bloc in Europe.

Under the European Peace Facility, financing for operations is structured to include: implementation and running costs of headquarters, including travel, IT systems, administration, public information, locally hired staff, force headquarters, deployment and lodging.

The facility also offers support to the force as a whole, infrastructure, medical services, medical evacuation, identification marking and satellite images; reimbursements to/from NATO or other organisations such as the UN; costs specific to the deployment or redeployment of an EU battlegroup.

EU has not just been funding Somali security forces but also providing training. The European Union Training Mission in Somalia (EUTM-S) was launched on 7 April 2010 but for the first four years it was conducted at Bihanga, Ibanda in western Uganda before it moved to Somalia. Its mandate has been extended seven times with changes reflecting circumstances on the ground. Over 10,000 SNA trainees have been beneficiaries.

According to official documents, the 1st Mandate (2010) was focused on tactical training up to platoon level. The 2nd mandate (2011) was also focused in tactical training but up to company level, introducing specialists training and some train the trainers. The 3rd Mandate (2013) contained a significant change in location relocating the Mission Headquarters in Mogadishu and in focus, with the addition of strategic advisory and mentoring activities to complement the training role.

The 4th Mandate (2015) introduced as new tasks the mentoring at the training centre, whilst maintaining its training capability focused on leadership and specialized courses defined jointly with the Somali authorities. The Mission also increased the focus of its advisory component on building long term capability and capacity within the Somali Ministry of Defence (MoD) and SNA General Staff (GS).