Reforming global institutions: Africa’s perspective

African countries have long called for reform of the United Nations and other international institutions that provide a forum for addressing the world’s most pressing international issues.

This briefing looks at African perspectives on reforming international institutions and the multilateral system.

Calls for greater representation

The African Union has set out an aspiration (PDF) as part of its Agenda 2063 for Africa to be an “active and equal participant in global affairs (and) multilateral institutions”.

There are now concerted efforts by African leaders to increase the representation of Africa in global bodies.

In 2023 the African Union joined the G20, the grouping of the 19 largest economies and the European Union. South Africa has already indicated it intends to use its presidency of the G20 in 2025 to “champion the aspirations of emerging markets”.

In August 2024 the UN Security Council debated the need for permanent African representation on the council, a move long supported by the African Union and the UK, among others. Reform of the UN is one of the topics on the agenda for the UN’s Summit of the Future in September 2024.

A new impetus?

Many African countries believe their voices have not been adequately heard, or their views fairly represented, in the multilateral system that emerged after the Second World War. Tim Murithi, Professor of African Studies at the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University in South Africa, has argued “the rules-based international order has not served Africa’s interests”.

While calls for greater African representation in international institutions are not new, arguably they are gaining greater traction because the global balance of power is shifting towards what the UK Conservative Government has described as a multipolar, fragmented and contested world.

At a time of rising geopolitical competition between the United States, Russia and China, some African leaders are actively avoiding being drawn into supporting one country over another, as occurred during the Cold War. At the 2024 summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa urged fellow leaders to remain independent “when the world appears to be once again divided between east and west.”

Global issues

These geopolitical changes come at a time when “we find ourselves in the grip of relentless global challenges of unprecedented magnitude” according to Kenyan President William Ruto (PDF).

African leaders are looking to strengthen their role in international efforts to address climate change, reform the global financial architecture and other global issues such as fair access to vaccines.

Addressing climate change is woven throughout the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which states that the continent “bears the brunt of the impact of climate change”.

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo has said “the global financial architecture has inequality and injustice embedded in its very core.” Kenya’s President has appealed to the G7 to help reform the multilateral financial institution system to reduce Africa’s debt burden and increase access to international finance.

Equitable access to vaccines, a significant issue during the Covid-19 pandemic, has come to the fore again with the emergence of mpox in 2024. Over 500 people have died from the disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2024 and the World Health Organization declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern on 14 August 2024.

International diplomacy

Major powers are actively courting African countries; this is evident in the number of summits devoted to African leaders by Russia, the US, the EU, Japan and China in recent years (the UK was intending to host a UK-African investment summit in April 2024 but it was postponed in January 2024). Ronak Gopaldas, of the South African based Institute for Strategic Studies,   said “Africa has emerged as a theatre for geopolitical competition where global powers are actively selling their future visions.”

South Africa led an African peace mission to Ukraine and Russia in June 2023, a reflection of Pretoria’s adoption of a more prominent role as a mediator in international conflicts. Several African countries sent delegations to the summit on peace in Ukraine held in Switzerland in June 2024.

UK strategy for Africa?

David Lammy, when Shadow Foreign Secretary, indicated a Labour government will produce a new Africa strategy.

Lord Collins of Highbury was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Africa) in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in July 2024. His responsibilities include Africa and multilateral and human rights, including the United Nations.