Key Facility for African Union Standby Force

Work is scheduled to begin this year on the construction of a regional logistics depot for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) standby force. SADC defence leaders took the decision to establish the depot in Botswana in 2006. No completion date has yet been established.

The SADC force is one of the foundations of the African Union’s African Standby Force (ASF), which is aimed at providing the AU with the capability to respond to regional conflicts through deployment of peacekeeping forces.

When completed, the depot will house general purpose equipment for the military, police and civilian components of the SADC standby force. Botswana has allocated a 19ha site in Rasesa, west of Mochudi, for the facility.