Regulation and Oversight
Information about National Regulations and Regional and International Initiatives.
Regional Initiatives
It was in the early 1990s that the private security sector in Africa began to emerge as we know it today. This new sector was legally constituted; it has increasingly sophisticated means at its disposal and offers a wide range of services. The African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) recognize the importance of oversight, and accountability of the private security sector. Some initiatives aiming to regulate this sector on the African continent have been pursued, either regionally or nationally, formally or informally, in the form of information sharing between governments.
An overview of the relevant regional initiatives is presented in this section.
Like the African Union, ECOWAS has addressed the regulation of the private security sector in a number of general references.
The AU plays a key role across the continent in promoting good governance of the security sector. It has issued a number of general references relating to the regulation of the private security sector.