French President Emmanuel Macron ended his three-nation Africa tour on Wednesday in Ethiopia, where he held talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and met with African Union Chairperson Mahamoud Ali Youssouf and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The discussions focused on inclusive global governance and the longstanding demand for African representation on the UN Security Council.
A readout from the meeting noted that the leaders “recognised the need for African representation” on the council. During his visit to Kenya, Egypt and Ethiopia, Macron repeatedly called for better representation of Africa in international institutions, including permanent seats for the continent on the Security Council.
At the Africa Forward Summit, co-hosted by France and Kenya for the first time in an English-speaking country, Macron acknowledged the need for permanent African seats. The summit’s peace and security declaration also urged “the urgent need for a comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council to make it more effective and representative.”
UN Secretary-General Guterres stressed that an inclusive Security Council would benefit the world. “A Security Council that today does not represent geographically the realities of the world… has a problem of legitimacy, and that brings with it a problem of effectiveness,” he said, noting the absence of Latin American and African permanent members.
On the sidelines of the talks, a new loan agreement worth $63.9 million was announced to support Ethiopia’s green energy and digitalisation programmes. At the Africa Forward Summit, Macron pledged that the French government and private sector would mobilise $27 billion in investments to spur inclusive growth across the continent.
