ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday concluded his Africa visit with talks in Ethiopia that covered, among other issues, the longstanding question of Africa’s representation on the U.N. Security Council.
Macron held talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and later met with African Union Commission Chairperson Mahamoud Ali Youssouf and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, and together they discussed inclusive international governance.
The leaders “recognized the need for African representation,” according to a readout shared from the meeting.
Macron, who visited Egypt, Kenya and Ethiopia during his Africa trip, had called for better representation of Africa in international institutions such as the U.N. Security Council.
During his opening remarks at the Africa Forward Summit, co-hosted by France and Kenya and held for the first time in an English-speaking country, Macron recognized the need for permanent seats for Africa on the council.
A peace and security declaration made at the end of the summit also called for “the urgent need for a comprehensive reform of the U.N. Security Council to make it more effective and representative.”
Africa’s quest for permanent seats has always been based on the need to reflect contemporary global realities, with continental bodies criticizing the exclusion of a continent of more than 1.4 billion people from permanent decision making power.
Guterres on Wednesday said that the world would benefit from an inclusive U.N. Security Council.
“A Security Council that today does not represent geographically the realities of the world. We have three European permanent members, one North American and one Asian. No Latin American, no African is obviously a Security Council that has a problem of legitimacy, and that brings with it a problem of effectiveness,” he said.
After the meeting between Macron and Abiy, a new loan funding agreement worth $63.9 million for Ethiopia’s green energy investment and digitalization program was announced.
During the Africa Forward Summit, Macron said that the French government and private sector would mobilize investments worth $27 billion to spur inclusive growth across the continent.