NATO and the African Union signed a new cooperation agreement on Monday (4 November 2019), laying the ground for closer practical and political cooperation between the two organisations.

“This is an important step towards bringing our two organisations closer together” said Jonathan Parish, NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Operations who signed the agreement on behalf of the alliance. “We are strengthening our political and practical partnership with the African Union so we can better respond to common threats and challenges.”

NATO's cooperation with the African Union (AU) focuses on operational, logistical and capacity-building support. NATO has provided air and sealift to African Union forces, as well as planning support for the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia. NATO has also supported the build-up of the African Standby Force through exercises and training. For day-to-day activities, the Alliance maintains a liaison office at the AU’s headquarters in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

Today’s agreement, signed in the margins of a two-day NATO-AU symposium held at NATO’s Joint Force Command in Naples, will serve as a starting point for even closer cooperation between the two organisations based on mutual respect and reciprocity. The AU’s Commissioner for Peace and Security, Mr Smaїl Chergui, signed the agreement on behalf of the African Union.

The deal supersedes an earlier NATO-AU cooperation agreement from 2014.