The Government of the United States of America has boosted the capability of 
the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) with a Deployable Satellite System (DSS) which 
was formally presented to the ECOWAS Commission on Friday, 21st August 2009 in 
Abuja. 

The ceremony also marked the end of a training session for selected staff of 
the Standby Force transmission company on the use of the equipment, part of 
which was tested during the ECOWAS military training session code-named “JIGUI 
2009” which took place in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 9th to 15th June 
2009. 

Receiving the equipment from the US representative, Mr. Richard Baisley, Jnr, 
the ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Mr. Celestin Talaki, thanked the 
US Government for the kind gesture and in its continued support to the ECOWAS 
Standby Force.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chief of Staff of the ESF, Gen. Hassan 
Lai, expressed appreciation over the provision of the DSS and noted the 
relevance of modern communications to the ESF. 

Gen. Lai called for the continued “understanding, cooperation and 
collaboration with all the stakeholders towards the development of the ESF in 
the interest of peace and security” of West Africa and the African continent.