At this year’s General Assembly, African nations push for Security Council representation, global equity, and solidarity with Palestine – but face entrenched power dynamics…reports Asian Lite News
African leaders attending this year’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) are arriving with a clear agenda: to secure a stronger voice in global governance, advance peace and security, and mobilise resources for sustainable development. Their demands are not new, but they are being pressed with renewed urgency against a backdrop of mounting global crises and a growing sense that Africa’s geopolitical weight is still not matched by its influence at the UN.
The 2025 General Assembly has adopted the theme “Better Together: 80 Years and More for Peace, Development and Human Rights.” But for many African leaders, the notion of togetherness feels hollow when the continent remains underrepresented in decision-making structures. Their central demand is reform of the UN Security Council, where five permanent members — the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and France — hold the power of veto over matters affecting the world’s 193 member states.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has emerged as one of the most vocal advocates for change. Writing in his weekly newsletter earlier this week, he warned that the current structure is eroding the UN’s legitimacy. “These five permanent members effectively make decisions on behalf of more than 85% of the world’s population living in countries of the Global South,” he said. “They continue to use their veto powers to effectively paralyse collective action and prevent timely responses to crises, even in the face of clear violations of international law.”
Ramaphosa’s frustration reflects a wider African consensus that the Council no longer reflects the realities of the modern world. Africa contributes significantly to UN peacekeeping missions, bears the brunt of conflicts the organisation is meant to resolve, and is increasingly central to global development. Yet it remains absent from the Council’s permanent membership.
Michael Kwadwo Nketiah, an international relations analyst, noted that structural reform would be a daunting challenge. “For the Security Council to be expanded to include any other permanent members, a charter amendment is required, and that needs a two-thirds majority in the General Assembly,” he explained. “Even if Africa secured that majority, the amendment would still need ratification by the five permanent members. These countries have never shown willingness to share their power.”
This political reality means African leaders must press their case in the court of global opinion as much as in the corridors of diplomacy. While the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza dominate headlines, Africa’s own security crises — notably the insurgencies in the Sahel and renewed fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo — are unlikely to command significant attention during the Assembly. The M23 rebel movement, widely reported to have backing from Rwanda, now controls large swathes of territory in eastern Congo, including the cities of Goma and Bukavu. Yet, for many African leaders, these pressing challenges are overshadowed by the world’s focus elsewhere.
Ramaphosa has also positioned himself prominently on the Gaza conflict, linking Africa’s historic struggles against colonialism to the Palestinian cause. “South Africa is committed to the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state existing peacefully and side by side with the state of Israel, along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he declared on social media this week.
His stance is widely echoed across Africa, where many governments have long recognised Palestine. Security analyst Fidel Amakye Owusu pointed out that this solidarity is deeply rooted. “What is new to the West in this recognition of Palestine is something old to Africans. We’ve always recognised Palestine, and the two-state solution has always been the agenda,” he said.
Owusu noted that Ramaphosa’s current push goes further, seeking to elevate Palestine from its observer status at the UN to full membership — a move that would give it voting rights and, in theory, a path to Council representation. But here, too, the obstacle remains the veto. “For Palestine to become a full member, all five permanent members must agree. And that is going to be difficult,” Owusu observed.
The wider context of this year’s Assembly underlines the dilemmas facing African nations. The United States’ retreat from multilateral leadership, exemplified by its continued “America First” posture, has left a vacuum in global governance. Meanwhile, divisions between the West and emerging powers have made consensus on major reforms elusive. For African leaders, the challenge is not only to demand a fairer system but to persuade entrenched powers to concede space at the table.
Yet the persistence of their campaign signals a determination not to be silenced. Ramaphosa has argued that the credibility of the UN itself is at stake. If the Security Council continues to be dominated by a handful of countries, he warns, the institution risks irrelevance in the eyes of the majority world.
For African nations, the UN remains both a symbol of hope and a source of frustration — an arena where their voices can be heard, but rarely acted upon. As the Assembly unfolds in New York, their message is clear: Africa’s time at the centre of global decision-making is long overdue.
