Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi on Dec. 20 reiterated calls for structural changes in the U.N Security Council to grant Africa a larger role in shaping global decisions.
Al-Sissi made the plea for a “more pluralistic” world order at a conference of the Russia-Africa partnership held in Cairo, which was attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and ministers from more than 50 African countries along with representatives from several African and regional organizations.
“The voice of Africa should be present and influential in making global decisions given the continent’s human, economic, political and demographic weight,” al-Sissi said in a statement read out by his foreign minister at the plenary session of the conference. He added that international financial institutions need to undergo similar reforms to ensure Africa an equitable representation.
Since 2005, the African Union has been demanding that Africa be granted at least two permanent seats with veto powers and five non-permanent seats in the Security Council. It has been arguing that such reforms would contribute to achieving peace and stability on the continent, which has been struggling with wars for decades. However, African countries have so far failed to reach a consensus on a mechanism to select their potential permanent representatives.
“We have decided to continue coordinating our efforts in various multilateral forums, including with the aim of promoting reform of the U.N. Security Council, taking into account the legitimate interests of African states,” Lavrov told reporters in a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart.
