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Africa’s takeaways from 81st UN General Assembly
UNGA 81 leaves Africa with a defining question: when the rules of the international system are being rewritten, will Africa merely demand a seat at the table or arrive with enough collective power to shape what is decided there? Writes Ahmed Hadji
Ahmed Hadji. (File)
By: Admin ., Journalist @New Vision
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OPINION
By Ahmed Hadji
The 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 81) has confronted a world where wars persist, inequality widens, climate pressures intensify, and artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes economic and strategic power. Its official theme, Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations That Delivers for All, captured a central question: how can institutions built around the power structures of 1945 govern the realities of 2026?
From an African perspective, the message was increasingly clear; representation must translate into influence, and influence must produce outcomes. Africa entered the Assembly with its established common position on Security Council reform; at least two permanent seats with full prerogatives, including the veto if it is retained, and five non-permanent seats. The African Union continues to argue that the Council must reflect contemporary geopolitical realities rather than those of 1945.
The issue is not new, but its urgency is growing. Africa comprises 55 states, yet remains without permanent representation on the body responsible for international peace and security. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly highlighted this imbalance, including in his final General Assembly address, where he again called attention to Africa’s exclusion from permanent representation.
Uganda’s intervention was particularly significant. Vice-President Jessica Rose Alupo, delivering President Yoweri Museveni’s statement, called for comprehensive Security Council reform to make the institution more equitable, transparent, democratic and representative. Uganda reaffirmed support for African representation in both permanent and non permanent categories.
More significantly, Alupo formally presented Amb. Olara Otunnu as Uganda’s candidate for the next UN Secretary-General. In the statement, Uganda highlighted Otunnu’s more than four decades of experience in the UN system, international diplomacy and public administration, including his service as the inaugural Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict from 1998 to 2005.
Uganda also connected political reform with economic reform. Alupo called for stronger developing-country voices in international financial institutions and greater attention to debt burdens, financing gaps and development. This connection matters because political representation without meaningful economic reform risks producing influence without the resources necessary to act.
The African Union’s agenda similarly extended beyond Security Council reform to international financial architecture, debt sustainability and ensuring that African countries capture greater value from their critical minerals. Africa possesses many resources essential to the energy transition and advanced technologies, yet much of the continent’s economic potential remains concentrated in raw-material extraction rather than processing, manufacturing and technology.
Uganda’s intervention was particularly significant. Vice-President Jessica Rose Alupo, delivering President Yoweri Museveni’s statement, called for comprehensive Security Council reform to make the institution more equitable, transparent, democratic and representative. Uganda reaffirmed support for African representation in both permanent and non permanent categories.
More significantly, Alupo formally presented Amb. Olara Otunnu as Uganda’s candidate for the next UN Secretary-General. In the statement, Uganda highlighted Otunnu’s more than four decades of experience in the UN system, international diplomacy and public administration, including his service as the inaugural Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict from 1998 to 2005.
Uganda also connected political reform with economic reform. Alupo called for stronger developing-country voices in international financial institutions and greater attention to debt burdens, financing gaps and development. This connection matters because political representation without meaningful economic reform risks producing influence without the resources necessary to act.
The African Union’s agenda similarly extended beyond Security Council reform to international financial architecture, debt sustainability and ensuring that African countries capture greater value from their critical minerals. Africa possesses many resources essential to the energy transition and advanced technologies, yet much of the continent’s economic potential remains concentrated in raw-material extraction rather than processing, manufacturing and technology.
Artificial intelligence added another dimension. Guterres warned that power is increasingly concentrated in data, computing capacity and algorithms, while the UN General Assembly presidency has identified AI, science, technology and digital governance as central priorities. For Africa, this is a foreign-policy issue as much as a technological one. Countries that control computing infrastructure, data and AI platforms will increasingly shape global economic and strategic rules.
Uganda, therefore, faces a consequential question: will it remain primarily a rule-taker in the AI age or participate meaningfully in writing the rules?
UNGA 81 did not resolve these challenges. Its significance lies in exposing the widening gap between inherited institutions and contemporary realities. For Africa, the opportunity is to convert demographic weight, natural resources, AU co-ordination and diplomatic presence into collective leverage.
For Uganda, that means building coalitions around Security Council reform, debt, climate finance, critical minerals, technology, trade and African-led peacebuilding.
UNGA 81 leaves Africa with a defining question: when the rules of the international system are being rewritten, will Africa merely demand a seat at the table or arrive with enough collective power to shape what is decided there?
The Writer is a foreign affairs analyst, adjunct senior fellow with the Centre for Policy and Strategic Studies (CPSS) Africa and the provost at the Lincoln Institute for Diplomacy and International Relations, Kampala, Uganda
Uganda, therefore, faces a consequential question: will it remain primarily a rule-taker in the AI age or participate meaningfully in writing the rules?
UNGA 81 did not resolve these challenges. Its significance lies in exposing the widening gap between inherited institutions and contemporary realities. For Africa, the opportunity is to convert demographic weight, natural resources, AU co-ordination and diplomatic presence into collective leverage.
For Uganda, that means building coalitions around Security Council reform, debt, climate finance, critical minerals, technology, trade and African-led peacebuilding.
UNGA 81 leaves Africa with a defining question: when the rules of the international system are being rewritten, will Africa merely demand a seat at the table or arrive with enough collective power to shape what is decided there?
The Writer is a foreign affairs analyst, adjunct senior fellow with the Centre for Policy and Strategic Studies (CPSS) Africa and the provost at the Lincoln Institute for Diplomacy and International Relations, Kampala, Uganda