Leaders from across Africa have called for more proactive and localised solutions to addressing the socio-political challenges confronting the continent.
Speaking at a four-day inaugural Annual Peace and Security Dialogue (APSD), an event hosted by the Thabo Mbeki Foundation (TBF) in Magaliesburg, South Africa, subject matter experts have highlighted the need to begin to look inward for solutions to the challenges facing the continent.
South African leader, Thabo Mbeki, acknowledged the commitment of leaders across Africa to the ideas of the dialogue though regretted that many could not attend the event owing to other engagements, including a meeting in Abuja.
The Vice President and Vice Principal of King’s College, London, Prof. ‘Funmi Olonisakin, faulted “the external blueprint” for responding to African challenges, saying it is flawed, redundant and ineffective. She called on African states to examine and make an urgent choice on which norms matter to their people most.
According to her, the leadership approach to merging issues is also a major challenge. She wondered how Nigeria and other custodian countries degenerated to the point of issuing empty threats to deviants when there were years when only a telephone call from leaders such as Chief Olusegun Obasanjo could restore order.
“The moment of global disorder is a moment of opportunity for Africa,” the British Nigerian scholar said, who noted that the continent could only gain from the ongoing conflict if it knows what it wants.
The professor of leadership, peace and conflict was confident that there are sufficient normative instruments for reinventing Africa but noted a huge gap between the intentions and actions of the continent as well as the implementation challenges.
Fixing the blind spots, she said, would require fixing the leadership challenge and deciding Africa’s common position on some of the global ideological contradictions.
The professor also faulted the fixation on the election at the expense of plebiscites, insisting that African countries must prioritise voting for issues as opposed to voting for protagonists of elections.
She also called on African leaders to take responsibility collectively and seek to forge a common path of issues that have overwhelming impacts on the survival of the continent and others.
Setting the tone for discussion, the Chairperson of TBF, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, described the meeting at the beginning of the journey of a critical engagement for creating “Africa-led solutions for African problems”.
The dialogue holds at a time when the global community is in turmoil. For Fraser-Moleketi, this makes the Magaliesburg meeting even timelier. She noted that the totality and brutality of the ongoing crises are overwhelming for Africa, who must assert itself.
Turn by turn, the speakers identify the challenges confronting the continent with some observing the need to urgently refocus the African Union (AU) from a mere administrative body and reform it into a real political platform that projects the African voice in a more influential manner at the global front.
The dialogue is in response to rising conflict and insecurity in the continent. It started on Friday and continues till Monday morning, offering participants an opportunity to chart a new path for a more peaceful continent and proffer solutions to the historical existential crises.
Themed ‘Towards a Peaceful and Secure Africa: Challenges and Opportunities’, the conference aims to “provide a platform for critical thinking and generate practical solutions to peace and security challenges in Africa”, the organiser said in its announcement.
The event will also present the much-needed interface for both business and political leaders to assess the prospects and challenges associated with shared platforms such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the African Charter, the African Charter on Democracy, the African Peer Review Mechanism, peace and security architecture, governance architecture among others.
