African Leaders Demand Permanent UN Security Council Seats and Veto Power
African leaders at the UN General Assembly are demanding permanent seats and veto power on the Security Council, citing historical injustice and the continent's vital role in global resources and AI supply chains.
African leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly have used their speeches over the past two days to demand a reform of the UN Security Council, the most powerful body of the United Nations. They are calling for the allocation of permanent seats to African nations within the organization's top decision-making mechanism.
African states are seeking at least two permanent seats, complete with veto power on matters of war and peace, unless the veto is stripped from existing permanent members. The UN Security Council consists of 15 members, five of whom are permanent: the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and China. All five permanent members hold veto power, allowing any of them to block a council resolution even if all other 14 members support it.
The Urgency of Representation
The remaining 10 members rotate on a staggered two-year basis, elected by the General Assembly. While Africa currently holds three non-permanent seats on the council, its representatives lack veto power, unlike the five permanent representatives from Europe, North America, and Asia. Calls for permanent representation for Africa have been discussed previously, but many continental leaders argue that current global conflicts make diversifying the Security Council more urgent than ever.
Most African leaders argue that unfair representation undermines the credibility of the UN and its stated commitment to multilateralism and equality. Kenyan President William Ruto stated during the assembly: "Every nation is sovereign and equal according to the UN Charter, yet on the most serious questions of war and peace, five nations possess permanent power that 188 others do not. The equality proclaimed in this assembly stops at the doorstep of the Security Council."
Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie questioned how a world guided by a fair conscience could justify denying 1.6 billion Africans the right to equitable representation. Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai echoed these sentiments, stating that historical injustice cannot continue and that rectifying the imbalance is essential to restoring trust and legitimacy to the United Nations.
Critical Minerals and Artificial Intelligence
A central theme at the UN gathering is the future of artificial intelligence, including its opportunities and risks. African leaders emphasized that decision-making regarding the rapid development of AI must include developing nations, as its impact will resonate across the entire continent. Botswana's President Duma Boko noted that this issue is closely tied to critical minerals, rare earths, and energy sources powering technological advancements.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo alone supplies over 70% of the global production of cobalt, a vital material for batteries, electric vehicles, and data centers. The continent also holds significant concentrations of lithium, platinum, and tantalum. Although African raw materials drive the battery and data center revolutions, the continent's influence on how the field develops and is regulated remains severely limited.
The Historic Imbalance
The disparity between Africa's standing in UN institutions and its real-world weight is stark. The 54 nations of the continent account for more than a quarter of all UN member states, forming the largest geographical voting bloc in the General Assembly, with a population of roughly 1.6 billion people. Nonetheless, the structure of the Security Council still reflects the global balance of power established at the end of World War II in 1945, when most African nations were under colonial rule.
If and when a historic reform is approved, a fierce intra-African struggle is expected over which nations will occupy the permanent seats. Three prominent candidates are South Africa, regarded as the continent's most developed economy; Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and a major oil power; and Egypt, which serves as a geopolitical bridge between Africa and the Arab world.
