As the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly moves through its high-level week in New York, African heads of state and government have used their turns at the podium to renew long-standing demands for a bigger seat at the table of global power, even as several of the continent’s most prominent leaders chose to stay away entirely.
The most pointed intervention came from Kenya’s President William Ruto, who told the Assembly that Africa’s 54 countries represent nearly a quarter of the UN’s membership yet remain without a permanent seat on the Security Council. “That imbalance might have reflected the world of 1945; it does not reflect the world of today,” Ruto said, adding his voice to a chorus of African leaders who have made Security Council reform a recurring theme of this year’s General Debate. King Mswati III of Eswatini echoed the call, urging fairer African representation on the Council and greater international backing for African-led peace and stability initiatives on the continent.
The push for reform comes at a moment when several of Africa’s largest economies are notably underrepresented at the highest level. Neither Nigeria’s Bola Tinubu, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, nor Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi traveled to New York for this year’s session. Ramaphosa’s office cited medical advice to rest following his return from the BRICS summit in India, with Foreign Affairs Minister Ronald Lamola leading South Africa’s delegation in his place. El-Sisi dispatched Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to represent Egypt, while Tinubu — marking the third consecutive General Assembly he has skipped — sent Vice President Kashim Shettima to deliver Nigeria’s national statement on September 23, backed by a delegation that included state governors from Rivers and Zamfara.
The absences have not gone unnoticed by commentators tracking the continent’s influence at a session the UN itself has billed as a consequential test of institutional credibility, unfolding alongside a closed-door race to select the next Secretary-General ahead of António Guterres’s departure at year’s end (his term ends 31 December 2026). Even so, African delegations — whether led by presidents or their deputies — have continued to use the platform to reassert the continent’s long-standing position on Council reform, framed around the Ezulwini Consensus, which calls for African representation among both permanent and non-permanent Council seats with full attendant rights, including the veto.
Beyond the question of Council representation, African leaders speaking this week have also woven in concerns over climate vulnerability, sustainable development financing, and support for African-led peace initiatives, reflecting a broader continental push to ensure that a UN system built in 1945 better reflects the realities and priorities of Africa today.
