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AFRICOM DVC Reaffirms U.S. Ties to Africa

Repères publisher Richard Touna, Associated Press/Dow Jones correspondent Emmanuel Tumanjong, and University of Yaounde II lecturer on geo-strategy/geo-politics Dr. Alain Fogue channeled audience’s questions to digital video-conference (DVC) interlocutor Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates during a recent DVC series out of Paris on U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). The three-day 10-city series featured question-and-answer sessions between U.S. Missions in Africa and Ambassador Yates, the Deputy to the Commander for Civil-Military Activities of AFRICOM. The Yaounde DVC, on January 16, 2008, enabled journalists, educators, opinion-makers, and informed citizens to dispel concerns about AFRICOM’s capacity and mission. During the local panel-led discussion that followed, U.S. Ambassador Janet E. Garvey addressed misconceptions, including the belief that AFRICOM would replace other historical means of U.S. outreach to Africa. The public debated what partnership might best meet the needs of Cameroon and the continent. Some held that peace-building needed to take precedence over peace-keeping, as there was no continent-wide peace to keep. The debate prompted a Ministry of External Relations participant to describe how only human security – economic and social – could lead to overall security, a development goal that AFRICOM shares.

The forum, with a robust turnout by the media, coincided with the timely announcement that, only the day before, Cameroon had become the first country in the Gulf of Guinea to have installed the maritime security enhancer Automatic Identification System (AIS) and the first country in Africa to have AIS installed on its ships. The panel-led debate offered a forum for exploring the way in which AFRICOM is a new instrument for military partnership in Africa.