Rabat: The 10th edition of the African Peace and Security Annual Conference (APSACO) kicked off Thursday in Rabat, attended by officials, experts, and decision-makers representing more than twenty countries.

According to Agence Marocaine De Presse, the event was organized by the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS) and is a two-day meeting. It was preceded by the presentation of the Center’s Annual Report on African Geopolitics 2026. This marks a decade of strategic reflection dedicated to examining the profound transformations shaping peace and security on the continent.

The conference was convened under the theme “A Decade in Review: Africa’s evolving security landscape,” and provided the opportunity to unveil the APSACO conference mobile application. This app aims to enrich the experience of participants, comprising decision-makers, researchers, and experts, by facilitating access to information and interaction with various panels.

In his opening address, PCNS Executive President Karim El Aynaoui welcomed the success achieved by APSACO over the last decade, highlighting its establishment as a key gathering of experts due to the collective dynamic and community of reflection it fosters.

Head of the Department of Defense and Strategic Studies at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Sharkdam Wapmuk, noted that the profound changes observed in Africa over the last decade are not attributable to a single phenomenon, but rather result from a complex set of interdependent factors.

Mauritanian law professor and public policy expert Sidi Mohamed Sidi Vall Ould Oumeir emphasized that the shifts Africa is experiencing during this decade are not new. He recalled that the continent has faced profound transformations and multiple upheavals since the 1960s.

The 10th edition of the conference occurs within a complex international context characterized by persistent crises, offering a unique platform to review a decade of lessons and anticipate the trajectories of African security looking ahead to 2036.

Since its launch in 2016, APSACO has established itself as Africa’s benchmark platform for strategic dialogue. Over the past ten years, the conference has accompanied all the transformations of the continent, from the management of asymmetric conflicts to technological wars, including challenges to regional stability.