An exterior view of the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the African Union Peace and Security Council and a few weeks after the United Nations Summit of the Future which adopted the Pact for the Future where peace and security were some of the major themes, the APSD is a timely intervention and adds a valuable platform to talk about peace and security in Africa, the writer says. – Picture: Xinhua/Li Yahui
By Sizo Nkala
The Thabo Mbeki Foundation held the inaugural Annual Peace and Security Dialogue (APSD) between October 4 and October 6 in Magaliesberg, South Africa, under the theme: “Towards a Peaceful and Secure South Africa: Challenges and Opportunities”.
The event, which gathered various stakeholders including government officials, intergovernmental organisations, academia, media and civil society organisations took stock of the state of peace, security and stability in Africa. It also put forward some proposals to promote peace and stability in the Continent emphasising the importance of African solutions to African problems.
Coming as it does on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) and a few weeks after the United Nations Summit of the Future which adopted the Pact for the Future where peace and security were some of the major themes, the APSD is a timely intervention and adds a valuable platform to talk about peace and security in Africa.
The Continent is reeling from endemic conflicts which hold back its development progress. A civil war has been raging in Sudan since April 2023 with no end in sight. The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed close to 15,000 people while displacing millions of people. Regional, continental and international intervention efforts have fallen flat with the warring parties refusing to commence negotiations to restore peace.
The hostility of the warring parties was on full display at the APSD. The delegation of the Transitional Sovereignty Council (TSC) which represents the SAF walked out of the meeting upon the arrival of the delegation from the RSF led by its deputy leader, General Omer Hamdan.
The TSC complained that “the invitation of a fascist militia delegation to participate in a conference on peace and security in Africa constitutes a grave insult to what Sudanese are facing at the hands of mercenary criminals”.
This unfortunate spectacle indicated that the deadly civil war would not be coming to an end anytime soon. Other countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, and Ethiopia are also facing conflicts of their own. In the West African region, violent extremism and terrorism have become major problems.
Burkina Faso came first in the 2024 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) with about 2000 deaths from 258 terrorism incidents in 2023. This was 25 per cent of the total number of global deaths from terrorism. Of the top 10 countries in the world most affected by terrorism, five are in Africa (Burkina Faso, Mali, Somalia, Nigeria and Niger). As such, is indeed affected by violence and conflict.
The delegates who spoke at the APSD acknowledged that this was a major challenge. The chief convenor of the meeting, former South African President Thabo Mbeki, bemoaned the lack of action by the AU in the conflict in Sudan. President Mbeki was quoted as saying “There is something radically wrong with the AU. Look at the conflict in Sudan. Where is the AU with regard to the resolution of this conflict?”
He implored the candidates vying for the position of the AU Commission Chair to present and outline clear plans on how they will fix what is wrong with the continental body and make it fit for purpose. Tanzania’s Foreign Affairs and East African Co-operation Minister, Mahmoud Kombo, challenged researchers and scholars to produce research that is relevant to Africa and can be used by African governments to make decisions on matters of peace and security.
His counterpart, Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, recounted South Africa’s active role in mediating conflicts in various African countries and contributing troops for peacekeeping missions in countries such as the DRC, Mozambique and Lesotho. He said the APSD “serves as a vital platform for fostering this co-ordination, enabling us to find African solutions to African problems and silence the guns on our beloved Continent”.
President Mbeki pledged to take the outcomes and recommendations of the APSD to relevant platforms, including the BRICS and the G20. It remains to be seen what impact the APSD will have on Africa’s peace and security landscape going forward.
However, it is an important platform that, unlike state-centred structures such as the AUPSC, brings a multi-stakeholder approach to issues of peace and security in the Continent. A state-centric approach has yielded limited success in reducing and resolving conflicts.
The inclusive and holistic approach envisioned by the APSD will play an important complementary role to established mechanisms like the AUPSC in addressing peace and security challenges.
* Dr Sizo Nkala is a Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Africa-China Studies.
** The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of The African