United Nations Economic Commission For Africa

The profound consequences of the current global transformations for Africa, both positive and negative, and especially in the future, compel an urgent regional initiative to deal with the crucial issues relating to security and Africa’s own development. The dominant objective of this African response must be the systematical analysis of the inherent logic, dilectical trends and implications of these changes for Africa now and in the future, in the security and economic spheres. The African initiative must embrace such critical questions as general peace and security, the urgent launching of Africa’s irreversible recovery and transformation, the requirements for  closer African integration, through the proposed regional economic blocs (RECs), and the implications of all these for international action, especially the South-South cooperation.

The primacy of peace and security, both at national and regional levels, to everything else in Africa cannot be over-emphasized. Without durable peace and security of life, property and national borders, it is not possible for citizens, economic actors, and governments alike to plan, implement and undertake the necessary activities that are required so urgently to arrest the protracted decline and stagnation in Africa.

It is no wonder, therefore, that these concerns have not escaped the attention of the African Union (AU) in designing a new strategy for confronting the critical challenges presented by the new international milieu. Indeed, the need was felt to link the requirements of economic development and demands for peace and security. In fact, any effective method for tackling the challenge of the new era had to be one that integrated both areas (Ayodele Aderinwale, 2001:60). This is why Africa is pushing for a meaningful and wide-ranging reform of the powerful UN Security Council as opposed to cosmetic changes which will perpetuate the continent’s current position on the fringes of decision-making. This paper attempts to highlight the concerns of the African continent in as far as security and development issues are concerned.