Nigeria has called on the African Union (AU) to develop innovative and sustainable financing mechanisms to strengthen Africa’s capacity to prevent and resolve conflicts while reducing excessive dependence on external funding.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, made the call on Saturday in Luanda, Angola, at the 26th Extraordinary Session of the AU Executive Council, convened under the theme, “Strengthening Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa.”
Odumegwu-Ojukwu commended the progress recorded in strengthening the AU Peace Fund, noting that member states had collectively contributed about $350.2 million, representing 87.5 per cent of the Fund’s original $400 million capitalisation target.
She said the Fund’s balance had grown to more than $405 million, with approximately $39 million already disbursed to support mediation, preventive diplomacy, peace support operations and other peace and security interventions across the continent.
The minister urged member states to meet their assessed contributions and, where possible, make additional voluntary contributions to strengthen the Fund, describing such commitments as investments in Africa’s collective security and sovereignty rather than mere financial obligations.
She warned that African-led peace operations could be undermined by unpredictable and inadequate funding, particularly in meeting the costs of personnel, logistics, equipment and other critical operational requirements.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu therefore advocated a gradual shift from dependence on external assistance towards greater African self-reliance in financing peace and security operations.
“External assistance should complement African ownership; it should not substitute for it. African resources should remain the foundation of African peace and security financing,” she said.
The minister further called for the progressive capitalisation of the AU Peace Fund towards its $1 billion target, alongside stronger resource mobilisation from African financial institutions, the private sector and strategic partners.
She also urged the full implementation of the 0.2 per cent levy under the Kigali Financing Decision and called on the AU Commission to explore additional innovative financing mechanisms capable of generating predictable and sustainable long-term revenue.
Among the proposals advanced was the voluntary allocation of strategically located land by member states for development through qualified private-sector companies and African multilateral financial institutions.
According to Odumegwu-Ojukwu, mutually agreed arrangements could enable the AU to earn annual royalties from such developments while promoting investment, infrastructure expansion and stronger partnerships among African institutions and businesses.
She, however, stressed that any new financing framework must be anchored on transparency, accountability, sound financial management and effective oversight.
“Africa has the institutions, the financial capacity and the political vision to take greater responsibility for its own peace and security. What is required now is the collective political will to translate that capacity into action,” she said.
The minister reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to collective African efforts aimed at promoting peace and security, stressing that a stable continent remained critical to the realisation of the objectives of Agenda 2063 and the vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa.
“Let us make the African Union Peace Fund not merely an instrument that we endorse, but an institution that we own, finance and sustain. Let us demonstrate through our contributions that African peace is an African responsibility,” she added.
