Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany — Greater than 160 civilian and navy representatives from the Departments of Battle, State and Commerce met March 26-27, 2026, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to determine strategic priorities and alternatives for the US in Africa as a part of the Africa Strategic Integration Dialogue (ASID).
STUTTGART, Germany — Greater than 160 civilian and navy representatives from the Departments of Battle, State and Commerce met March 26-27, 2026, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to determine strategic priorities and alternatives for the US in Africa as a part of the Africa Strategic Integration Dialogue (ASID).
The discussion board strengthened interagency coordination on safety, stability and funding to advertise U.S. and African prosperity.
“The purpose of convening this esteemed group is for us to know how every helps the opposite in facilitating alternatives in help of U.S. pursuits and in help of our African companions,” mentioned U.S. Military Maj. Gen. Garrick Harmon, director of Technique, Engagement and Packages, U.S. Africa Command. “This yr, with the addition of the Division of Commerce we are able to take a look at the place we’ve got elevated alternatives on the continent the place there’s a safety and financial nexus.”
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This convention builds on the outcomes of the interagency ASD, held in Feb. on the Nationwide Protection College in Washington, D.C.
“At ASD our leaders charged us with what they need us to do and now we get to resolve tips on how to do it,” Harmon mentioned. He urged the group to “be frank in assessments, problem assumptions, and be artistic in making options.”
Christopher Mamaux, deputy assistant Secretary of Battle for Safety Cooperation; and Nick Checker, senior bureau official, Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Division of State additionally attended the discussion board, supporting interagency discussions on the two-day occasion.
“Africa’s [theater] is an economic system of pressure, so the aim of this dialogue is to allow us to take a look at how we’re implementing the nationwide safety technique,” Checker mentioned. “We have to be meticulous in exacting about the place we deploy devices of nationwide energy. The query that all of us ask ourselves is, does each tax greenback additional American international coverage?”
The discussion board started with plenary periods that outlined the strategic panorama in Africa, together with the U.S. imaginative and prescient for engagement, AFRICOM’s position, and joint Commerce-State efforts to facilitate funding. Constructing on this framework, members then joined breakout periods to discover the tactical facet of engagement. These smaller teams mentioned inter-departmental collaboration, strategies for enabling business diplomacy, and the way enhancing accomplice safety immediately fosters financial progress and stability.
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“Safety is the inspiration for funding,” Checker mentioned. “The extra we are able to spend money on their international locations, the higher the steadiness can be.”
Terrorist teams like al Qaeda and al Shabaab exploit financial instability for recruitment. Fostering funding in Africa creates the safety and stability wanted to counter this menace. Secure African economies shield U.S. nationwide safety by curbing the unfold of extremist ideology, securing crucial provide chains, and stopping the creation of ungoverned areas that can be utilized for worldwide terror operations.
“The facility of this interagency discussion board is it permits us to speak from the strategic to the tactical stage on how we are able to greatest coordinate, cooperate and collaborate in help of U.S. international coverage targets and in help of our African companions,” Harmon mentioned.
