By 
Introduction
The Accra Initiative (AI) was established in 2017 as a proactive measure by littoral states in West Africa to take full responsibility for their own security following the disruptive activities and progressive incursion of violent extremist and terrorist groups from the Sahel. The AI had a specific mandate to prevent the spillover effects of violent extremism and terrorism (VET) from the Sahel, and to address transnational organised crimes in the border areas of its Member States – Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Mali, and Niger, with Nigeria having an observer status. Although the AI was not an entirely new phenomenon to deal with complex situations of urgency in West Africa, it’s formation was significant for two main reasons. First, the AI served as a stopgap measure for crisis response among like-minded littoral states following the inability of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to deploy the ECOWAS Standby Force (ESF) to combat terrorism and cross border crimes. In other words, the AI was deployed as a rapid response security mechanism to address an imminent crisis of VET in the coastal States.
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