On the last day of the US-Africa Summit in Washington, President Barack Obama unveiled a new initiative that is aimed at enhancing security operations in six frontline African countries in the war on terrorism and organised crime.

Its aim, the president said, is to help the designated countries “build strong, professional security forces.” In addition to Kenya, the states chosen to take part in the Security Governance Initiative are Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Ghana and Tunisia.

The US pledged additional funding for the initiative following a first-year infusion of $65 million.

In exchange for “multi-year funding commitments,” the security initiative will require sustained, high-level leadership and commitment by partner countries to pursue policies in support of the agreed upon goals, the White House said.

Along with assisting police and military counter-terrorism efforts, an array of US government agencies, will seek to strengthen “democratic governance, rule of law and respect for human rights” in the six countries, the background fact sheet added.

Kenya’s security forces were criticised in the State Department’s most recent human-rights report for abuses.

Even though Kenyan forces are playing a major role in stabilising Somalia, the country is not included in another new US initiative announced by Obama that aims to quell conflicts in Africa.

Obama said the US is launching an “African peacekeeping rapid-response partnership with the goal of quickly deploying African peacekeepers in support of UN or AU missions.”

This plan entails $110 million per year in US funding for up to five years, the bulk of which will go into financing current peacekeeping efforts in Somalia, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

The US will join with six countries that “in recent years have demonstrated a track record as peacekeepers — Ghana, Senegal, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda,” Obama said.

While Obama said that the US doesn’t have a desire to “expand and create a big footprint inside of Africa,” trends in the past few years show its military activities on the continent have increased substantially.

Combating the rising threat of extremism in Africa is one of the biggest concerns for Washington. Blowback from the Nato-led intervention in Libya and the Syrian war, has spread across Africa, with guerrilla movements proliferating in the Sahel region, West Africa, Central African Republic and Somalia.

“I think there’s uniform concern about terrorist infiltration in many countries throughout Africa. This is a concern that we have globally,” Obama said.

However, the rising threat of extremism and violence in Somalia, CAR, Mali, the Sahel, Libya, and South Sudan, has seen the US Africa Command (AFCOM), established in 2007, quietly but rapidly expand its presence.

The US has stepped up drone operations on Africa’s skies and sent troops after the Lord’s Resistance Army in CAR. In Nigeria, it is helping combat Boko Haram and has a technical team as part of the search efforts for the 200 girls kidnapped by the Islamist group.

By Trevor Analo and Kevin Kelley