West African leaders have agreed to spend $ 1 billion to fight terrorism in the region.
They made the pledge at a meeting of the West African Economic Development Organization held in the Ouagadougou capital of Burkina Faso on Saturday.
These funds will be used to support this special anti-terrorism initiative.
As stated, the program's mandate will run from 2020 to 2024. The money will be spent on improving the anti-terrorism forces in the rebel-held areas.
During the meeting, Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré said that given the threat posed by terrorists in West Africa, it is important that countries cooperate in fighting terrorism.
"It is for this reason that countries must use their capacities and resources to train security personnel and provide them with weapons to fight terrorism," he said.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has advised regional leaders not to try to let terrorists disperse the area.
"Our region has made great progress. We should not allow terrorists to invade our area and take our people away from the security and the privileges we have," he said.
Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the West African Economic Community, said that such an important event is a sign that there will be international cooperation to combat the region's problems.
Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou, who is also a stakeholder of the group, said they called the meeting because of security threats to the region.
The United Nations declared in July this year that the spread of jihadist propaganda in West Africa has to be intensified.
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