Africa at the UN: Voice or Leverage?

Into Africa

The episode explores Africa's evolving role within the United Nations General Assembly amidst a period of global geopolitical competition. H

Key takeaways

• Africa has transitioned from being largely absent to becoming a major constituency with 54 UN member states.
• President Ruto of Kenya proposed the development of an African foreign policy to foster continental coherence.
• Funding cuts within the UN are significantly impacting peacekeeping operations across the African continent.
• Ghana and Togo have successfully utilized the UNGA platform to advance resolutions on historical justice and geographic representation.
• UN Resolution 2719 remains difficult to implement due to a lack of consensus among Security Council members regarding specific conflicts like Somalia.

Main topics

• UN General Assembly (UNGA)
• African Union and UN partnership
• Global governance reform

Notable quotes

Is Africa's challenge today a lack of voice or a particular lack of leverage?

Conclusion

While systemic financial and political hurdles remain, Africa's increa

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) This week, the world's attention turns to New York, where leaders, diplomats, business executives and civil society voices are gathering for the United Nations General Assembly. As always, there will be big speeches, high-level meetings and plenty of ambitious announcements. But beyond the headlines, there is a bigger conversation taking place about the future of global governance and Africa's role in shaping it. At a moment of growing geopolitical competition, persistent conflict, economic uncertainty, and rapid technological change, many of the questions facing the international system are also questions about Africa's future. How much influence does the continent really have in shaping global decisions? Are calls for reform finally gaining real traction? And as this year's hunger unfolds, what should we actually do? Be watching. Welcome to Into Africa, a podcast where we explore Africa's geopolitical landscape, its evolving global role, and the challenges and opportunities shaping the continent's future. I'm your host, Oge Onubogu, Senior Fellow and Director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. To help us unpack these questions, I'm joined by Bitania Tedase, Policy Specialist for Africa at the International Peace Institute and a close observer of the UN and of African multilateral affairs. Bitania, welcome to Into Africa. Speaker 2 (1:42) Thank you very much, Oké. Thank you very much for having me. Oh, Speaker 1 (1:45) it's our pleasure. I am here in your town this week for UNGA. Speaker 2 (1:49) Every Speaker 1 (1:50) year, every year, leaders arrive in New York declaring that the world is at a turning point. So from an African perspective and from where you sit, what feels genuinely different about this UNGA? Speaker 2 (2:03) Well, this UNGA, I think, is taking place against the background of quite a turbulent year. because of what's happening in the world, but also what's happening within the United Nations. In addition to existing conflicts, this year we've witnessed a new war, the war in Iran, and that had immense effects on African states that have been severely affected by the economic fallout. The effects were on trade, energy, food security, which has been particularly significant. And on the other hand, you know, beyond of what's happening in the world, what's taking place within the UN as well is quite concerning. The UN at the moment is not only sidelined for mediating conflicts, including this one, but it also this year has been a year where the UN is undergoing through significant changes due to funding cuts affecting the different parts of the system. And this has, of course, affected various frameworks, various tools across the continent, peacekeeping operations, which there are a number of peacekeeping operations within the African continent. And on top of this, I think beyond the changes that we are seeing in the world within the UN, I think this is also an important time for the UN because of the leadership transition discussions, which we can also touch. in much more detail later. But the ongoing process of the selection of the next SG, I think that's also one of the contributing factors in making this UNGA quite important for the continent and beyond. Speaker 1 (3:47) Yeah. So, you know, with both of us here in New York, watching all these different meetings and side events unfold, people who are situated in other African capitals, be it in Kinshasa, in Lagos, in Accra, in Addis. What should people watching UNGA this week be paying attention to beyond the elaborate speeches and official statements that might come out this week? Speaker 2 (4:11) I mean, of course, the statements and the speeches are quite, they receive a lot of attention. Different statements from different heads of state and government receive a lot of attention. But I think quite a number of conversations taking place at the margins of the UNGA. The bilateral engagements that this platform also offers for many member states, for many actors to have a certain level of access to various leaders, to various... stakeholders within the multilateral system, those conversations that are happening at the margins of the, you know, the formal opening and the statements and the speeches are quite important. The number of side events that are organized by member states, by civil society organizations, the kind of informal discussions that takes place in the corridors, but also outside the UN. I think those will also be quite important to follow. And that's also, I mean, the advantage of having that the UNGA besides the formal statements and official statements and speeches. So Speaker 1 (5:15) I think if we drill down on this little further, you know, the African continent has won many of the arguments about reforming the international system, yet the system itself seems slow to change. So is Africa's challenge today a lack of voice or a lack of leverage? I think for me, in other words, what are some of the biggest obstacles that you see preventing African countries from translating influence into outcomes? Speaker 2 (5:45) Well, I mean, Africa's journey in the UN has been, it's a very long journey and characterized by many challenges. And when the UN itself was founded in 1945 and most of today's African states were still under colonial rule, the majority of African states. And really, Africa did not have that independent voice in the organization. Today, the story is different. We have 54 African UN member states. And Africa has also moved from being largely absent from the institutional design of the UN, but to also becoming this largest constituency. Speaker 2 (6:28) The 54 UN member states also, African member states also gives considerable, they have like a powerful voting power in the General Assembly. Africa also has the advantage to have a continental body to help build consensus and produce continental norms. But African governments have also different national interests, economic relationships, security priorities. So it's quite, it's impossible to have. complete unity among such a vast and very diverse membership, but it's also possible to establish minimum continental positions. So the challenge has been how to balance the diversity that we have as a continent, but also how to create continental kind of consensus on certain priority issues. For example, one ambitious proposal that came from presidents, Ruto, at the last African Union summit. And this is President Ruto of Kenya. Exactly. Has been, for example, for Africa to develop African foreign policy to help with this coherence, to help with Africa to really become an influential actor in shaping international norms. This is quite ambitious in terms of bringing like more than 50 countries into establishing or crafting. foreign policy. And also because there are some very practical kind of challenges that the continent continues to face and continental organizations are also facing, particularly when it comes to financial dependence, which really weakens political autonomy, but also the diplomatic capacity of various African missions, for example, engaging multilateral institutions, whether you're in New York or also in Addis. It's also quite limited. So having a political voice without the necessary financial or institutional backing or capacity, it also limits kind of the negotiating or the bargaining power of states. And I think another layer of complexity, particularly in this particular moment for African states, you know, in terms of transforming voice into leverage and actual impact. is that this moment is also quite difficult because we are in an era of great power and middle power competition, which really makes consensus building a very difficult process because of the increased fragmentation that we're seeing, the shifting alliances, and really challenging moments for multilateral cooperation and for multilateral institutions as well. because of these factors, internal factors, external factors, and how the world is also transforming, is really among the challenges that would limit in terms of transforming Africa's presence into actual influence in the multilateral system. Speaker 1 (9:37) I think you raise a very important point about how the world is changing and alliances are shifting. And over the last few years, I think we've been hearing debates of if the UN is still relevant. And so I think, you know, rather than asking whether the UN is still relevant, should we be asking relevant for whom? Where does the UN still make a tangible difference in Africa today? And where do you