ASEC 2026: Africa urged to unite against growing security threats

The 13th Africa Security Symposium (ASEC 2026) has ended in Accra with renewed calls for stronger partnerships, innovation and greater participation of women in addressing Africa’s security challenges.

The symposium, which brought together security leaders, policymakers, practitioners and technology experts from across the continent, focused on strengthening Africa’s security architecture through collaboration and innovation.

Delivering the closing keynote address, Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed Mubarak said Africa’s growing security challenges cannot be addressed by individual countries acting alone.

He stressed that lasting solutions require sustained partnerships and coordinated action among African states.

“Security today is interconnected and we can’t do it alone. Lasting solutions require coordinated action and sustained collaboration. The true measure of ASEC 2026 will not be the quality of discussions, but the actions that follow.”

The Minister urged participants to leave the symposium with renewed determination to champion African-led innovation and strengthen partnerships towards building a safer and more resilient continent.

The symposium also highlighted the need to modernise security institutions to keep pace with evolving criminal threats.

Speaking to journalists, Officer in Charge of the Canine Unit of the Ghana Prisons Service, Matilda Kpeli Mensah, said the symposium had exposed officers to emerging technologies and best practices being adopted by prison services across Africa.

She said criminals continue to develop more sophisticated methods of committing crime, making it imperative for security agencies to remain ahead of them.

“There have been a lot of experiences shared on the use of technologies in other countries and how they are being used in prisons to curb criminal activities. Even though criminals are incarcerated, we cannot relax our security. We have to keep improving because they continue to modernise and advance their modus operandi.”

Organisers of the symposium also called for greater inclusion of women in Africa’s security sector.
Director of Government Communications at Phynx Limited, Mohammed Ahmed, said women must play a bigger role in shaping the continent’s security policies and responses.

“The most important issue is women in security. We want women to play a bigger part in the issues of security in Africa. It’s about time that women become more involved because they make up about half of the population.”

He said increasing women’s participation would help build a more inclusive and effective security architecture for the continent.

ASEC 2026 concluded with participants committing to deepen collaboration, embrace innovation responsibly and strengthen Africa’s collective response to emerging security threats.