The Secretary General of the United Nations has been on an official visit to Africa since last Saturday. Antonio Guterres is visiting Senegal, Niger and Nigeria. In his discussions with the authorities of each of these countries, Guterres addressed not only the transitions in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, but also the security, food, energy, financial and climate crises.
In Senegal, the UN chief discussed with Senegalese President Macky Sall, who is also the current chairman of the African Union, the issue of the resurgence of coups in West Africa. In this regard, Guterres urged the military junta in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali to hand over power to civilians as soon as possible. “We agreed on the importance of continuing the dialogue with the responsible authorities [in Ouagadougou, Conakry and Bamako] in order to restore the constitutional order as soon as possible,” Guterres said in Dakar.
The impact of the war in Ukraine on the African continent
Another subject addressed by Macky Sall and Antonio Guterres was the worsening food, energy and financial crises in the sub-region. Indeed, the conflict in Ukraine is known to be driving up global food and fuel prices. As a result, senior UN officials fear that the rising costs will drive more people to the brink of starvation and lead to political instability and social discomfort in some parts of Africa, where food prices have increased by a third since last year. Last March, Macky Sall urged the World Bank to help Africa cope with the economic effects of Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
During a press briefing with the Senegalese President, the UN Secretary General called for three strong measures in response to the food, energy and financial crisis that has shaken the world following the outbreak of war between Russia and Ukraine. First of all “we must ensure a steady flow of food and energy to open markets by lifting all unnecessary export restrictions, allocating surpluses and reserving them for those who need them and controlling food prices to calm market volatility”, he said.
As for the financial crisis, “International financial institutions must urgently put in place debt relief measures that also increase the liquidity and fiscal space of developing countries so that governments can avoid defaults and invest in social safety nets and sustainable development for their people,” Guterres argued. The UN Secretary also said that the institution “has made concrete proposals in this regard during the spring meetings of the World Bank and the IMF”.
Furthermore, given the climate emergency and the energy transition, Antonio Guterres pointed out that African countries are “often the first victims” of global warming for which they are “not responsible”. This has led to a commitment from developed countries to help finance their “transition to renewable energy and green jobs”. This commitment made in 2015 and supposed to be effective in 2020, has never been met. The UN boss said: “It is time to act. It is time to honour the promise of USD 100 billion per year made in Paris,” he insisted.
“Peace, stability and prosperity in Niger and the whole Sahel are a top priority for the United Nations.
After the Senegal stage, Antonio Guterres went to Niger on Monday. There, security, humanitarian issues and good governance in Niger were at the centre of discussions between Antonio Guterres and President Mohamed Bazoum. After meeting the latter, the UN Secretary General called for the mobilisation of many resources to tackle the problem of terrorism because, ” peace, stability and prosperity of Niger and the whole Sahel is a top priority for the United Nations”.
On Tuesday, Antonio Guterres visited the site of the displaced in the department of Ouallam, Tillabéri region. This site currently hosts 5,506 people or 1,017 households who have escaped violence in their localities. Taking note of their situation, the UN Secretary General praised the courage of these people before promising that he would plead on their behalf with the international community for substantial humanitarian aid.
In Nigeria, Antonio Guterres calls for the return of displaced people
The UN Secretary General’s last official visit was in Nigeria. The discussions mainly focused on terrorism. Indeed, since 2009, terrorist groups in north-eastern Nigeria such as Boko Haram have killed over 40,000 people and displaced more than 2.2 million. The solution is to create safe conditions, conditions for development so that they can return home in safety and dignity,” Mr. Guterres said.
The UN Head also visited a rehabilitation camp for ex-jihadist fighters. Here he pleaded for “the reintegration of those who, in a moment of desperation, became terrorists and now wish to be citizens” to foster peace in the country.
