With China and Russia’s Support, Africa Scrambles for Seats at United Nations, by Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

At the United Nations Security Council in New York, Africa has made a significant headway in an anticipation for consolidating its position and raise the possibility of forging further cooperation towards securing two permanent seats. After several months of advocating for structural reforms, backed by many developing countries and a number of great powers including China and Russia, the UNSC would grant Africa two seats at the table, thanks to speeches by U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio. In mid-August 2024, the Sierra Leonean president said Africa could not wait any longer to get a bigger voice in the United Nations Security Council, the most powerful body dominated by Global North. After decades of seeking a bigger voice in there, Africa gets closer to the victorious marathon race. Julius Bio referred to his continent the “unquestionable victim” of an imbalanced, outdated and unrepresentative Security Council structure.

Russia’s Business and Financial Vedomosti reported that the United States ambassador to the United Nations under President Joe Biden, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, recently told Reuters that pushing the issue of Security Council expansion could become part of Joe Biden’s political legacy. However, she could not give an exact timeframe as to how long it would take the UN General Assembly to approve these changes. According to the diplomat’s speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, the US proposal is aimed at increasing the role of African countries in the international arena.

At the same time, Thomas-Greenfield stressed that the United States does not support granting new permanent members of the Security Council the same veto power as the current five: the UK, China, Russia, the US, and France. Thomas-Greenfield did not specify which African countries the United States believes should be granted permanent membership in the Security Council.

The most likely candidates are South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria, Associate professor at the Department of World Politics at Moscow State University Natalia Piskunova told Vedomosti. The expert believed that South Africa is important for the United States as a strategic partner in Africa as a whole, Egypt is valuable as a direct participant in Middle East policy, especially due to the ongoing war in Gaza, and Nigeria looks attractive because of its membership in OPEC. “We can expect several combinations with these countries: Egypt and South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria, or South Africa and Nigeria,” the expert said, adding that the lack of veto power could turn these countries off from accepting a seat as a permanent Security Council member.

Expanding the Security Council is a complex process, Piskunova added. The General Assembly may simply not support the decision. “That is why the possible American proposal seems more like just talk at the moment,” she said.

“Many countries, including Russia and China, have proposed giving permanent seats to African countries, so the US does not want to lag behind,” expert at the Russian International Affairs Council Alexey Naumov told Vedomosti. The main reason is that the continent is becoming more attractive to international companies because of its cheap labor compared to China, where labor is becoming more expensive, Naumov said.

The UNSC is made of the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France with permanent seats and have veto-wielding members. Ten other seats – originally six, until a 1965 expansion – go to countries that get two-year council terms, without veto power. The broader General Assembly elects them by region, with three seats for Africa. In fact, African countries, and many others, have argued that the arrangement shorts the continent with the world’s fastest-growing population, now at 1.4 billion.

The continent’s 54 countries make up 28% of the U.N.’s member states. Five of the U.N.’s 11 current peacekeeping operations are in Africa, as are four of the top 10 countries in terms of sending troops. The African Union (AU), the continental organization, has called for two additional elected seats – yielding a total of five – and two permanent ones for countries on the continent. In any case, the African representatives at the UNSC have the primary responsibility to ensure the realisation of its objectives and the attainment of the vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa within the broad strategic framework of the Agenda 2063.