Digital Press Briefing with General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, U.S. Air Force Commander, U.S. Africa Command on the African Chiefs of Defense Conference 2026

MODERATOR: Good afternoon, and welcome, journalists from across Africa, to the U.S. Department of State's Africa Regional Media Hub. My name is Phillip Assis and I'm the director of the hub. We are privileged to have joining us today General Dagvin R.M. Anderson, commander of U.S. Africa Command, who is joining us today from Luanda, Angola, where the 2026 African Chiefs of Defense Conference has just concluded.

Today's briefing is on the record, and you may quote our guest by name and title. We'll begin today's briefing with opening remarks by General Anderson, and then we'll turn to your questions. We don't have time to get to everyone's questions, so you know, but we'll try to get to as many as possible.

With that, I'm pleased to turn the floor over to General Anderson.

GENERAL ANDERSON: Thanks, Phillip. I appreciate the introduction, and I also appreciate you taking time to host this call. Like I said, we're still in Luanda; just completed our conference here with the chiefs of defense from across Africa. We had 35 countries represented, to include the United States and Brazil, in addition to the 35 African countries, and then we brought in many of our state partner programs from the National Guard from across the United States to the conference.

And before we start, I'd just like to acknowledge and thank the efforts of the entire team here in Angola, to include General Altino and his team, to help us put this together and to host us. It's been absolutely fabulous. They've been great hosts. It's been a great location to have this event and bring everyone together to have some conversations here in Luanda.

With that, just a quick overview from this. We did a few things differently this year. We did have some keynote speakers. We had the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from the U.S. close out the conference, and then we had the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff open the conference. And then Dr. Feijó provided a keynote address from Angola regarding the intersection of economics and security, and how to bring those together for greater effect.

We also brought in some representatives from the other agencies within the United States Government. So we had some representatives from the Department of Commerce to talk about investing in the - and again, the intersection with security. The Development Finance Corporation was also represented in part of a panel. We had representatives from the Department of State here as well as from the policy folks that are in the Pentagon were here as well.

So a good representation, and then I think more importantly is we had some representatives from industry and commercial companies here as well to provide opportunities or ideas for various chiefs of defense and their delegations to talk to, to see if they could help provide solutions and provide opportunities for those partners, to include some African companies that are looking at African solutions for African problems, to include looking at ways to find employment or use that to also employ local workers, not just build defense capabilities.

We had four panels. One was talking about the global commons and really about threats that go across borders, across the Atlantic even. So from terrorism to the organized crime to narcotics trafficking, and to other things that create instability in various regions and don't necessarily respect borders and require a combined effort and a discussion across multiple nations in order to look at solutions.

Then we talked about the information domain and the importance of engaging there to counter misinformation and to be transparent about actions and the impacts; economic opportunity, again, linking stability and prosperity. We brought in a panel on innovation - innovating solutions and how to look at that, and that innovation is not just about new technology - that being at an inflection point in history where the digital age is maturing, it's equally about how do we maximize what we already have, how do we look at what's commercially available, and then start to think about what are those key technologies that need to be developed or need to be brought into our forces in order to stay ahead of these evolving threats.

Like I said, we had very good representation from across the continent and also from folks back in the United States as well. And so for me, this was a very positive engagement. I learned a lot. I was able to listen to several of the partners, did several engagements from multiple chiefs of defense from around Africa, and then did some breakout sessions where we talked about regional problems and regional issues and could focus on those, such as how to address threats in the maritime domain, the terrorist threat in West Africa, challenges in East Africa, and others.

So I found that to be very insightful, very helpful to get that engagement and interaction. And then probably the most important theme that came out that wasn't one that we necessarily made part of the conference was the repeated discussion about the importance of engaging, of talking face to face in order to build the trust that's necessary in order to have those relationships to address these threats and to work together in a way that we can lean on each other's strengths and learn from each other, and also that we can build that trust going forward.

So that's a summary of the conference. And then, Phillip, back over to you for any questions.

MODERATOR: Yeah, thank you, General Anderson. That sounds like a very productive conference. I wish I'd been there, actually.

So yeah, we have already - we've received a lot of questions. The first one will go to Ms. Pearl Matibe from DefenceWeb, South Africa, and Premium - also writing for Premium Times, Nigeria, who asks you about the ACOHD* marking its 10th anniversary year, and with the security landscape evolving so rapidly, including the rise of unmanned aerial systems used by non-state armed groups. "What changes are you making to ensure that the ACHOD conference evolves as well as delivers more operational value for African defense leaders, in addition to your posture statement's stated aims of building trust, interoperability, and tangible outcomes like intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance from a small footprint?"

GENERAL ANDERSON: Thanks, Phillip. I appreciate that. And I'm sorry you weren't able to make it. You're always welcome, and we'll make sure you have an invitation to the next conference and see if you can host from here.

MODERATOR: Thank you. I would love that. Thanks.

GENERAL ANDERSON: Yeah, that'd be great. So I appreciate the question from Pearl. That's really important, is that we - that was what we were thinking through this year as we were looking at this Chiefs of Defense Conference, is not to just discuss the problems and not to just go over what many people are well aware of, but actually talk about, then, what are some potential ways forward and how do we look at those?

And so one of the key efforts that you talked about was shared information, understanding what's out there, what we can share to be able to address these threats, to create the common understanding of what these threats are doing. So as illicit activity is - takes place, whether it's illegal fishing or other smuggling or movements in the maritime domain, that's an area where things like the Yaoundé Accord have provided great value in highlighting the importance of that, of building that common picture in the maritime domain, understanding who can action those threats, and then being able to then engage and talk across borders is important.

And one of those examples that we had recently was a very large shipment of cocaine that had come out of South America and was transited along the west coast of Africa. I was able to coordinate through our interagency in the United States, through AFRICOM, and then notify some of the partners. And eventually it was a Spanish ship that interdicted the ship that had 31 tons of cocaine on it, and it turns out is the largest interdiction of drugs on the sea that we've ever seen. And so this is an area where that communication from across the Atlantic, across West Africa, then to be able to action it is important, and to have those relationships already established.

So that is one area. The other area that I think was different this year was we brought in industry from companies that are looking to do business in Africa, they're looking to work with African partners, but bring solutions that are tailored to the requirements of that country or of that region. And this is not looking at a one-size-fits-all or here's just a piece of technology, but it's looking at what are the surveillance capabilities that can be built, what's available in commercial space that can assist partners, what types of autonomy and drones that can be developed and built. Terra Industries from Nigeria was here and their CEO participated in a panel with some really good insights about how to build drones that are effective in the African climate and environment that don't always work in others, and how do we then tailor those unmanned systems to be most effective going forward to address the threats.

And so that's - that was how we looked at this in a different way, and then also looking at the fact that it's not just about the technology but it's about the innovation, the information; how do we build the standards, how do we create opportunities? And then ultimately, it's not just the security piece; it's what do we then do to build economic opportunity that creates lasting security and prosperity? And that stability that leads to investment creates that opportunity for prosperity, so that's why we had representatives from Commerce and the Development Finance company here to talk about some of the risks that are involved that companies look at. Some of them are perceived that they don't fully understand the environment, so they maybe assess the risk too high; or the real risks that are included out there - and those could be from instability or from a lack of institutional governance or the legal structures that allow international companies to invest with confidence. And so looking at that, those all contribute to security and stability. But how do we start bringing those together in a conversation that is informed across those sectors?

And I'll pause there, Phillip.

MODERATOR: Great, thank you. Thank you, General. The next question is a little bit related also on interconnected cooperation, but more specific to the Horn of Africa. This is from Michael Masrie from AfricaTells in Ethiopia, who says: "The Horn of Africa is experiencing overlapping security challenges, including the conflict in Sudan, instability in Somalia, tensions in the Red Sea, and evolving regional dynamics involving Ethiopia and Eritrea. How does AFRICOM assess these interconnected developments? And what role do you see for African-led regional mechanisms in preventing these crises from escalating into a broader regional security threat?"

GENERAL ANDERSON: Yeah, so that's a very challenging question, and it's one that we spend a lot of time on. Matter of fact, we had a session here with members from across the region to talk about just that very issue. And so the issues in the Horn of Africa are critical to not just the region, but to Africa and to the world, given the amount of trade that flows through that region and the amount of economic development that's occurring. Ethiopia, where the question came from, is one of the fastest growing economies on the continent. And so the importance of maintaining that stability - that allows that economic growth to continue, because instability in war will disrupt that and destroy all the gains that had been made over several years. And so there - multiple countries clearly have an interest in maintaining that stability going forward.

You mentioned the Sudan crisis, which is one of the worst humanitarian disasters on the planet, and one of the most - it was just a terrible tragedy. But ultimately that's going to have to be resolved between the parties that are in conflict and the parties that are engaged in that.

Additionally, Somalia's continuing, where al-Shabaab is a destabilizing threat. We're seeing some cooperation or some engagement with the Houthis across the Gulf of Aden. ISIS is present as well. And that's where we can help assist to provide intelligence capabilities, things that are unique that the U.S. can bring forward to enable partners. But ultimately that has to be a Somali solution and a regional solution to that problem.

And then the Red Sea you also mentioned - clearly an important area for commerce and one that - how we can help ensure that access to those global commons and those critical lines of communication that are vital to many nations is an important aspect of what we do and how we look at the continent.

And then the last part I would just say is looking at the trends along the east coast of Africa, beyond the Horn, of looking at how to secure that maritime space, which was very porous and quite large - five nations along that border on the continent, along with some of the islands such as Comoros and Madagascar that have clear interests there.

So again, there are things we can do from AFRICOM and from the United States that can help these countries integrate some of their intelligence, understand and prove the awareness of what's happening in that maritime space in order to come together and be able to execute a local regional solution to these very difficult problems.

MODERATOR: Great. Thank you for that. Next question is - comes from Mr. Stanley Dube at Breeze FM in Zimbabwe. And he asks that: "Given multiple, overlapping security challenges across the continent - from interstate tensions to insurgencies - what is the United States long-term vision for African-led security solutions, and how does it avoid perceptions of external interference?"

GENERAL ANDERSON: So that's a great question, and that's exactly what we are looking to encourage our African-led solutions, the idea of having this conference even. A big part of the conference, and one of the most valuable aspects of it, is the ability for several of these chiefs of defense to get together and discuss issues, share ideas and understanding.

So from Zimbabwe in the southern area, the SADC countries are very active, and they get together within their region, and so there's a lot of coordination that's already happening there to address these problems. Part of the benefit of this conference is being able to create dialogue across multiple regions of the continent, just to understand how different countries, different regions are addressing similar threats.

But to the point, the long-term solution, the long-term path to stability is going to have to be African-led; it's going to have to be African partners coming together as appropriate to address these issues. And so I think this is an area where the United States can assist in a couple ways: one, helping with the technology and the understanding of how to share and integrate that intelligence and information; another is being able to understand how these threats may be not just regional, not even local or regional, but go across the continent or internationally.

And so ISIS or Daesh is an international terrorist organization that has affiliates across the continent, to include in the Middle East. That is something that our global intelligence can help inform and help local forces address the affiliate of ISIS or Daesh that's there locally, but understanding how that plays into the larger network and how an operation in Nigeria can actually help or have an impact in the terrorist threat in Somalia or in Mozambique or in other places. And so that's something that we can bring from the United States to help with that understanding and also help synthesize that for action. But ultimately, it's going to have to be working with the partners.

And I guess one quick example of that, not - of not having external interference is I think the partnership that we've shown recently with Nigeria, where Nigeria's a very capable and large country - it's got a strong economy; it's got a large, educated population; it's got a very capable military. But there are things that we have learned in the counterterrorist fight over several years that we were able to assist and integrate with them to help them with their intelligence and help with the intelligence sharing that eventually led to a cooperative effort to where we were able to bring some unique capabilities that the U.S. brings and be able to prosecute together the number two leader within the ISIS or Daesh organization who is responsible for much of the - their global operations, their global media, and their recruiting.

And so that operation in the Lake Chad Basin of Nigeria not only helped the countries in that immediate region; it also helps countries globally as that disrupts the ISIS network. And so - and then we have withdrawn much of our forces that were just there for that operation, but are continuing the partnership that Nigeria has asked for to help continue with the intelligence sharing and the understanding that's necessary to be able to prosecute these difficult tasks.

So I think as we go forward, that is an example of how we're looking at engaging with partners to help them be more effective by only bringing unique U.S. capabilities that allow the partner to be effective in these fights. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Great. Thank you for that. You actually - you actually largely answered another question that came in just now from Eric Schmitt as well on ISIS in Nigeria. This next one also comes from Ethiopia. You've touched already on the economic question and trade development. So this question is that the conference emphasizes sharing - addressing shared threats while enabling investment and economic growth. "How is AFRICOM ensuring that its security partnerships strengthen African strategic autonomy and nationally defined security priorities rather than being shaped primarily by broader geopolitical competition among global powers?"

GENERAL ANDERSON: Phillip, (inaudible) that question. That's a very good question and, I think, one worthy of discussion, because ultimately it goes - well, it goes back to two things we've already talked about: How do we enable African partners to find solutions that work for them, and then the key interaction between security and economics. And sometimes it's an economic action or investment that then can create the environment that allows more stability over time. But you first have to have that security in place to be able to allow that economic development, but then they feed each other. And so you need both to develop together.

But for each of them to be successful, they have to be something that works in the environment, something that is applicable to the local cultures and customs and the country in order to be effective, because these need to be long-term solutions. And so that requires investment from the host nation or from the local nation, as well as from international partners who can assist with that. And for me, that's always been how we've looked at this and looked at the engagement.

Obviously, with the U.S. - United States, when we invest, there's interests that we have, but we look at investing where there's mutual interest for mutual development or mutual economic advantage or mutual security benefits. And so that's how I think we go - or that's how I know we go forward in order to avoid some of those pitfalls that you just described of getting too wound up in the global competition. All nations compete. All nations are out there looking out for the interest of their people.

But at the same time, we're looking at what the United States brings. I'm not as concerned with what the other nations are doing. That is up to partners to look at what they see as valuable, because I think what the United States brings is value added and incredibly powerful in what we have as an engagement from the United States, whether it's our counterterrorist expertise, our military capabilities, our intelligence, our - what our society brings in engagement, our academic institutions and opportunities for development, and our - just the access and investment from our economy and our commercial sector.

Again, the U.S. is one of the most innovative countries in the world. It's what we're built on as a foundation of immigration, of immigrants who need to come and innovate and develop and learn. And so that's a vibrancy that the United States has always thrived on and is something that we bring as an opportunity.

And so to me, as I look at this, those are the things that I would offer to partners and to other countries to see what's of value and what does the United States bring.

MODERATOR: Great, thank you. The next question comes from Ms. Asha Elmi of Dawan Media in Somalia, and she asks: "AFRICOM operations in Somalia appear to have increased significantly in 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, with reported strikes rising from roughly 38 to more than 60. What factors are driving this escalation, and does it reflect a worsening threat environment or a shift in AFRICOM's strategy?"

GENERAL ANDERSON: Well, that's a great question. And we have been engaged very closely with the partner forces in Somalia, particularly in northern Somalia, where we have been able to work with them and push ISIS leadership into a very small area where they're restricted to living in caves, they have limited mobility, their logistics are impacted, and limited ability to communicate. And that's where the leadership of the global ISIS network is.

And so what this indicates, though, is it's not just the U.S. It's what the partner forces have done from Puntland to actually go up into those mountains, to stay engaged. And then where are those things that the U.S. can provide assistance? There's some resupply of equipment and food in order to keep the forces in place; it's the ability to provide intelligence, ISR, and then these key strikes that when the target presents itself, we work with a partner in order to execute these strikes. There are also activities and actions that the partner force is doing to take these terrorists off the battlefield. And so it's a combined effort, but that ability of the partner to stay in place and to continue to apply pressure has allowed us to develop targets and to conduct more targeted strikes against these terrorists.

And then, again, in other parts of Somalia, where al-Shabaab has been active, we've been able to work very closely with the partner forces in order to provide that intelligence, that surveillance, and that overhead support to include some of these strikes. So there is some - part of the activity of the terrorists is still there, but it's also that the partners have been enabled to be more active, which then creates opportunities that allow us to continue to build momentum against these threats.

MODERATOR: Great. Thanks. We have time for just one last question, and that will go to Thato Selemogwe, and apologies if I've mispronounced that. He asks a pretty evergreen question, I would say: "Given current budget constraints facing many African countries, how can defense forces strengthen cooperation without significantly increasing costs?"

GENERAL ANDERSON: So this was one of the key topics at the conference that many of the chiefs of defense engaged in discussion on, because there is limited budgets. Everyone has a limited budget of what they can apply resources to, and so where do you get the best return on that investment? And so what we are looking at is what are those things that enable what you have already to be more effective? So some of that is just in information sharing and intelligence sharing. It's being able to take that intelligence and make sense of it in order to target the threat.

It's also that there's - and I mentioned this earlier - there are several commercial capabilities now that are available that are quite affordable. And as we see what's happening around the world, especially with drones and that - the advances in those technologies, those are not necessarily expensive technologies, but they've been proven in Ukraine and other theaters to be very effective. And so being able to harness that, to be able to rapidly adapt that and invest in those areas that are affordable but yet have great impact, is important.

And it's not just the technology - and I think that's an important piece that countries need to understand. It's not just the drone itself. It's the software that goes in behind it; it's the communications network that allow them to be operated. It's the intelligence and targeting. And so that often is a building of a culture that requires some training and engagement, but doesn't necessarily require a large expenditure of resources. And then some of those tools that enable those executions are becoming more and more affordable, to include commercial space-based capabilities that weren't affordable just a few years ago.

MODERATOR: Great. Thank you. That concludes the time we have for our questions. But General Anderson, I wanted to give you the floor if you had any final remarks or anything you'd like to say at the end.

GENERAL ANDERSON: No, I just appreciate the interest in what's happening in Africa. There's obviously some critical threats that are out there. We are working with partners in how we can help disrupt those and what's in a sustainable - it goes to the previous question - what's sustainable ways to do that with our partners to enable them to be more effective.

Again, I'll just go back to the Nigeria example, just because it's a recent success here that we've had together, is that ISIS's leadership has been significantly degraded there. And that's leadership locally that has been disrupted, but also their global network, which is limiting their ability to communicate. So understanding where those key pressure points are is important as we focus our limited resources from the United States in order to have an impact not just locally but across the continent and internationally.

And so what's important here to understand is that what follows and that Nigeria has been very active since that operation in May. They continue to prosecute targets themselves. But as they have talked about this in the information space and created that information environment, they have allowed - or had more defections or surrenders of ISIS followers in that northeastern area of Nigeria. So that's a combined effort that continues to build. And so that's what we're looking at, is where those areas that have the greatest return that allow this type of momentum to build to enable partners to then address these threats themselves.

MODERATOR: Great.

GENERAL ANDERSON: Thanks, Phillip.

MODERATOR: Please, go ahead.

STAFF: Yep, that's it. We're done.

MODERATOR: Okay. So, General Anderson, I want to thank you for taking time out of the conference, for joining us today out of the 2026 African Chiefs of Defense Conference to brief us, to brief journalists, about all the great outcomes that came from the conference and as well as to update us on priorities of AFRICOM.

And thank you, journalists from across Africa, for participating. A recording of today's briefing and a transcript will be distributed to all journalists who have registered. If you have any additional questions about today's briefing, please contact us at the Africa Regional Media Hub. The email, as you know, is [email protected]. Please, if you publish any articles or make any broadcasts from today's briefings, please do share a link with us at that same email address. And finally, I'd like to invite everyone, if you don't already, please follow us on X at our handle @AfricaMediaHub, and for our French speakers, please also join us at @USAenFrancais.

Thank you all. I wish you a pleasant day. Thanks, again, General Anderson. Take care.

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