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Objectives

AFRIPOL is dedicated to fostering a safer, more resilient Africa by strengthening police cooperation across the continent. Our mission is to combat organized transnational crime, terrorism, and cybercrime through strategic partnerships and capacity development. By working closely with African Union Member States, AFRIPOL empowers national police institutions with the tools, knowledge, and networks needed to respond effectively to evolving security challenges.

To achieve this, AFRIPOLis committed to the following objectives:

  • Establish a Continental Police Cooperation Framework
    Create a structured platform for collaboration at strategic, operational, and tactical levels among police institutions of AU Member States.
  • Enhance Crime Prevention and Investigation
    Support the prevention, detection, and investigation of transnational organized crime in coordination with national, regional, and international law enforcement bodies.
  • Build Law Enforcement Capacity
    Develop African centres of excellence for specialized police training tailored to the continent’s unique security environment.
  • Harmonize Continental Security Strategies
    Prepare a unified African strategy to counter organized crime, terrorism, and cybercrime, aligned with AU policy frameworks.
  • Coordinate with Regional and International Structures
    Improve synergies with similar institutions to strengthen the continental response to cross-border crime.
  • Support Institutional Development
    Assist Member States in enhancing the organizational, technical, strategic, and operational efficiency of their police services.
  • Promote Information Sharing
    Facilitate secure exchange of intelligence to disrupt criminal networks and improve joint investigations.
  • Champion Good Governance and Human Rights
    Help develop policing standards grounded in democratic governance, accountability, and respect for human rights.
  • Advance Community Policing
    Encourage citizen engagement in crime prevention through the promotion of community-based policing models.
  • Support Continental Strategic Vision
    Contribute to the development of a shared African vision for law enforcement coordination and policy alignment.
  • Facilitate Policy Dialogue
    Assist Member States in forming common African positions on regional and international security policy matters.
  • Lead Research and Innovation
    Conduct in-depth studies on crime trends and develop practical tools to support crime prevention and law enforcement.
  • Develop Secure Communication and Data Systems
    Establish effective platforms, systems, and databases to underpin all of AFRIPOL’s operational functions.

Purpose and mandate

AFRIPOL is a technical institution of the African Union with a mandate to strengthen cooperation between the police agencies of AU member states in the prevention and fight against organized transnational crime, terrorism, and cybercrime. Its status was adopted by the AU Conference in January 2017 and became effective immediately.

The priority of AFRIPOL is to strengthen and harmonize the capacities of law enforcement agencies in member states and facilitate cooperation and collaboration among them in the prevention and fight against organized transnational crime.

To achieve this goal, AFRIPOL provides law enforcement agencies with online training via its e-learning platform, in-person training, training of trainers, experiences and best practices sharing workshops, immersion internships, as well as scholarships.

The African Secure Communication System “AFSECOM”, is a key tool for implementing the mandate of AFRIPOL. It ensures secure and reliable communication between AFRIPOL and law enforcement agencies of the African union member states, while allowing for the storage and sharing of data to enhance the cooperation between them in combating organized transnational crime, terrorism, and cybercrime. All AFRIPOL liaison offices are equipped with this system.

AFRIPOL maintains strong partnership with African regional police chief organizations as well as with CAERT and CISSA. It also cooperates with numerous international police organizations, such as INTERPOL, CEPOL, FRONTEX, EUROPOL, GCCPOL, and UNODC.

In 2020, INTERPOL and AFRIPOL established the support program for the African Union in relation to AFRIPOL (ISPA), offering both organizations the opportunity to cooperate in key areas, including combating criminal networks in organized crime, terrorism, and cybercrime. Since 2019, a cooperation project with the German Federal Police has been established, aimed at strengthening the capacities of law enforcement agencies in member states in key areas of their activities, particularly in forensic through the AFRIPOL Network of Excellence in Forensic.