ABUJA, Nigeria -- Seventeen African partner nations participated in the African Partnership Flight hosted by the Nigerian Air Force and facilitated by U.S. Air Forces Africa, November 4-8, 2024, in Abuja, Nigeria.
The African Partnership Flight is a biannual force development, educational, and interoperability workshop to help strengthen U.S. strategic partnerships by sharing ideas to enhance regional cooperation and interoperability.
During the opening ceremony NAF Air Commodore Dogari Apyeyak emphasized the importance of multilateral collaboration on the continent in response to natural disasters.
“This noble African project deepens the bonds of friendship among member states towards actualizing a more united continent,” said Apyeyak. “It is necessary we leverage the collective air power knowledge, experiences and planning protocols of our different air forces in prompting humanitarian assistance and disaster response.”
The engagement was conducted with members of the Association of African Air Forces, a voluntary, non-political organization focused on collaborative, multilateral engagements to promote African-led air power solutions among 29 African member nations in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force.
The APF strengthened AAAF capabilities to effectively coordinate and collaborate in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response efforts, said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Mark Thorley, USAFE-AFAFRICA A5I Africa branch chief.
“Effective multilateral partnerships are important to prepare and respond to disasters by saving lives during natural disasters,” said Thorley. “As an African-led association, we can rapidly respond by working together to reduce needless suffering.”
The AAAF exercise series, AAAFEX, is the tactical means by which the association operationalizes its goals of developing each African air force capacity, capability, and interoperability.
Utilizing a three-year exercise cycle, a tabletop exercise will be executed in 2025 to solidify strategies focused on a HA/DR scenario. Followed by a command post exercise and will culminate with a live-fly field training exercise in 2026.
Maj. Uyapo Kuli, Botswana Air Force liaison officer and AAAF intra-continental response sub-working group lead, said the need for African partners to share their wealth of knowledge and experiences to ensure an effective exercise.
“It is very important to coordinate with African air forces because skill transfer is necessary for the growth and maturity of air power,” said Kuli. “We are on the road to the right direction, and I am very positive we will have a successful tabletop exercise and a live-fly exercise on the continent.”
During the APF, African partners and exercise subject matter experts participated in a dry run of a TTX to be conducted during the 2025 African Air Chiefs Symposium in Lusaka, Zambia.
Throughout the week, participants determined the effectiveness of draft AAAF standard operating procedures in response to a HA/DR scenario and identified the assets and capabilities most suitable to aid with disaster response to include multilateral coordination within AAAF and across other international agencies.
Participants role-played as facilitators, evaluators and players to test disaster response capabilities during a simulated scenario of a flood in Zambia.
Maj. Moses Sichilima, Zambia air force LNO and AAAFEX development team member, said the exercise embodies the “Pamdozi” spirit, which means unity in the Zambian Chichewa language.
“We need to accept any pledge that can be offered by any member state, for instance a small nation may not have air assets to provide during a disaster, but they can support with medical supplies, personnel and tents,” said Sichilima. “No nation is an island or stands alone, every nation is susceptible to a natural disaster, therefore it is important we work together as one to assist the country that is in need.”
The following nations participated in the APF: Botswana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, United States and Zambia.