AU report warns $43m military asset transfer to Gambia, others could cripple Africa’s standby force

By Omar Bah

An internal African Union report has issued a stark warning that a proposed transfer of nearly $43 million in military and logistical equipment from the Continental Logistics Base (CLB) in Cameroon to The Gambia, Liberia, and Sierra Leone could severely undermine the African Standby Force (ASF).

The report states that the transfer would strip the CLB of more than 55 percent of its total assets—valued at $77.6 million—effectively rendering the facility inoperable and compromising the AU’s ability to rapidly deploy peace support missions.

At the centre of the controversy is the CLB’s core mandate of maintaining strategic deployment stocks capable of supporting one large-scale mission of over 5,000 personnel alongside two smaller operations. The report argues that the proposed redistribution directly contradicts this mandate and risks dismantling one of the AU’s most critical security mechanisms.

The planned allocations include $21.3 million to Liberia, $9.6 million to Sierra Leone, and $12.1 million to The Gambia. If executed, the report warns, the transfers would deplete the AU’s collective readiness and weaken its capacity for independent conflict response.

Beyond operational risks, the report raises serious governance concerns. It questions whether officials within the AU’s Political Affairs and Peace and Security Department approved the transfers in line with established doctrine and calls for an independent audit to investigate possible conflicts of interest linked to personnel overseeing the base.

The report also challenges the legal and strategic basis for transferring AU-owned assets directly to member states. Under ASF doctrine, countries are expected to supply and maintain their own equipment, not rely on direct allocations from continental reserves.

Compounding concerns, some of the equipment earmarked for transfer includes sensitive military hardware such as heavy machine guns, ammunition, and armoured vehicles.

The CLB, which reached Initial Operational Capability in 2019, has been widely regarded as one of the ASF’s most tangible achievements. The report warns that the proposed transfers could reverse that progress and significantly weaken Africa’s collective security framework.