Address by President João Lourenço at the 21st Extraordinary Summit of the African Union

Your Excellency Évariste Ndayishimiye, President of the Republic of Burundi and Chairperson of the African Union; Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government; Your Excellency Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission; Your Excellencies, Representatives of the Regional Economic Communities and other African Regional Organisations; Ladies and Gentlemen, Angola has been entrusted with the honour and responsibility of hosting this Extraordinary Summit on Strengthening Conflict Prevention and Resolution Mechanisms in Africa, which is taking place at a particularly turbulent time, marked by great uncertainty regarding the future of humanity. We will focus particularly on issues of peace and security in Africa, while also addressing the concerning security situations arising from the war in Europe, the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, as well as threats to global stability in other parts of the world. We are witnessing the most blatant violations of International Law and disputes over hegemonic control of reserves of major energy resources, particularly oil, natural gas, minerals and rare earth elements, of which our countries are among the main holders of these highly sought-after resources. In order to weaken us, attempts are being made to undermine our institutions and our societies by creating and fuelling all forms of division among us, which may degenerate into conflicts and wars. Our weaknesses and vulnerabilities must not undermine our collective capacity to prevent and resolve the conflicts that continue to emerge and affect our continent. We cannot abandon this imperative of unity if we are to transform our continent into a centre of stability, progress and development, capable of meeting global needs for energy, food and other resources that are acquiring increasing strategic importance. Our continent and our citizens increasingly demand that we take measures to find solutions to the challenges of peace and security in Africa. In this regard, allow me to express my appreciation to the Peace and Security Council of the African Union for the comprehensive and informative report presented on the state of peace and security on our continent, which will undoubtedly be a highly valuable document for the deliberations of this Summit. Your Excellencies, Our objective of “Silencing the Guns in Africa,” enshrined in Agenda 2063, must become a permanent political priority of the African Union, because we will not succeed in building “The Africa We Want” while wars, terrorism, violent extremism and unconstitutional changes of government persist. Peace is the essential condition that enables us to fulfil all the ambitions and aspirations of our continent. Without peace, there can be no sustainable development; without security, there can be no effective economic integration; without stability, there can be no investment; and without legitimate and functioning political institutions, we will not have States strong enough to guarantee the prosperity and dignity of our citizens. Economic prosperity and regional integration will only be possible if we have strong and effective African Governance Architecture and African Peace and Security Architecture. This Extraordinary Session is taking place at a time when Africa continues to pay an excessively high price for the instability affecting many of our countries and regions. Our continent possesses economic potential that would enable it to achieve levels of development far greater than those currently attained. However, the reality is that we continue to lose lives, resources and opportunities in conflicts that, in many cases, could have been prevented or resolved before reaching the scale we witness today. Our continent does not lack instruments to address crises. It has a Peace and Security Architecture built over decades, a Peace and Security Council, a Continental Early Warning System, a Panel of the Wise, regional prevention and mediation mechanisms, sanctions instruments and even an African Standby Force. Given this broad range of prevention and response mechanisms, our challenge is to ensure that they function in a timely, coordinated, appropriate and effective manner, with authority and determination, and with the necessary financial and operational resources. We must therefore move from a culture of reacting to crises towards a genuine culture of conflict prevention. Your Excellencies, Angola speaks on this matter from its own experience, having endured nearly three consecutive decades during which our country faced the horrors of war, with a high number of human losses, the destruction of important infrastructure and the paralysis of almost all economic activity. We fully understand the cost of war and how much we suffered, and for that reason we know how to value the gains of peace. Angola’s experience has demonstrated that even prolonged conflicts can find a way towards resolution when there is the political will to engage in dialogue and the courage to place the higher interests of the Nation above all else. If approached realistically and with due respect for the sacred interests of our peoples, this vision will undoubtedly help curb the deterioration of the peace and security situation observed in several regions of Africa. I would like to emphasise the need to promote and maintain national dialogue in South Sudan, respect the commitments undertaken under the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict, and create the conditions for a credible electoral process that contributes to consolidating peace. We are concerned about the situation in Sudan, which is experiencing one of the most serious humanitarian crises on the continent, with a high risk of fragmentation of the country and the spread of the conflict throughout the region, with unpredictable consequences for the Horn of Africa and the already fragile security situation in the Red Sea. We call upon countries outside the continent that provide weapons and technical support to rebels and mercenary groups to stop fuelling this conflict, which has already become one of the bloodiest on our continent. We Africans do not fuel wars and conflicts taking place on other continents. We therefore demand the same treatment, based on respect and non-interference in our affairs. We must strengthen joint action between the African Union and the United Nations and exert the necessary pressure on internal and external actors to achieve an immediate and permanent cessation of hostilities and pave the way for an inclusive political process capable of bringing lasting peace to Sudan. Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Within the framework of our collective security, the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is of undeniable importance because of its longevity and the risk of its effects spreading throughout the region. The insecurity prevailing in the eastern part of the country cannot be regarded as an exclusively Congolese matter. The movement of armed groups across borders, flows of refugees and displaced persons, arms trafficking, the illicit exploitation and trade of natural resources, and tensions among neighbouring States give this conflict a dimension that clearly transcends the country’s borders. This conflict, whose intensity has increased over the years with the involvement of various internal and external actors, requires sustained African mediation efforts undertaken by the African Union, currently represented by His Excellency Faure Gnassingbé, President of the Council of Togo, who deserves our greater support and encouragement in his efforts to ensure that all parties concerned strictly respect the commitments undertaken thus far. We welcome the announcement of the forthcoming inclusive inter-Congolese dialogue, in which all relevant stakeholders should be encouraged to discuss mechanisms and pathways towards achieving peace and the country’s economic and social development. Among the conflicts affecting our continent, the Sahel region stands out, where transnational terrorism, violent extremism and unconstitutional changes of government continue to fuel a cycle of instability that threatens to extend beyond the borders of the countries directly affected. The situation created in the Sahel by the European intervention in Libya has now acquired a continental dimension, with repercussions for the coastal countries of West Africa, the Gulf of Guinea and the Lake Chad Basin, where instability has for years continued to cause forced migration, severe food insecurity and a serious deterioration in the living and humanitarian conditions of local populations. The cross-border nature of the terrorist and mercenary organisations operating in the region demonstrates that responses to these challenges cannot be limited to interventions of a strictly national nature. They naturally require coordinated and properly structured regional action aimed at implementing measures requiring a joint response. Regarding the situation in Somalia, we recognise that the efforts undertaken by the Federal Government and its partners have produced important results. However, the threat posed by Al-Shabaab persists. The African Union must continue to support the stabilisation process and advocate before the United Nations Security Council for the effective implementation of Resolution 2719 of December 2023. We defend respect for Somalia’s territorial integrity, while condemning and opposing the emergence of a new threat: the Balkanisation of the country as a result of external interference that does not serve the interests of our continent. With regard to Mozambique, particularly the Cabo Delgado region, the persistent terrorist threat continues to require attention, although we must acknowledge progress in the security situation, which must continue to be consolidated in order to strengthen stability and improve the living conditions of the population. Your Excellencies, Our continent is increasingly becoming an arena of competition among major powers pursuing different geostrategic interests. Its abundant natural resources, geographical position, diverse and plentiful energy resources and other strategic advantages are making Africa an arena of growing competition. It is precisely for this reason that the African Union must reaffirm its founding values of solidarity, unity and Pan-Africanism — pillars that have become considerably weakened and urgently need to be revitalised. Without a genuine commitment to our common interests, we will remain exposed to agendas that do not correspond to our objectives and that prevent us from fully determining our own destiny. Only a more united Africa, more confident in itself, will be capable of defending its own interests. We must therefore strengthen strategic coordination in major multilateral forums, particularly at the United Nations, speaking with one voice on the fundamental issues that directly affect our continent. We cannot abandon the struggle for reform of the United Nations Security Council, where Africa must be appropriately represented with permanent membership and all the rights associated with that status. We must strengthen our strategic autonomy, becoming the principal actors and assuming primary responsibility for building peace on our continent. We want an African Union that is more present wherever crises occur, intensifying the missions of the Organisation’s relevant commissions and special envoys in countries experiencing crises. We also need continental leadership to be supported by a Monitoring Centre, designed as a strategic instrument for conflict monitoring. Such an instrument could help identify trends, anticipate risks and support prevention and mediation efforts. The efforts undertaken by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission to fully exercise his preventive diplomacy mandate, supported by regular and objective information from the Continental Early Warning System and the Panel of the Wise, should be encouraged by all of us so that he can act with greater speed and autonomy whenever signs of a crisis become evident. We must make more systematic use of our governance and prevention mechanisms so that electoral tensions, institutional crises and disruptions of the constitutional order are addressed before they escalate into violence. Major African crises require continuous monitoring, regular ministerial meetings and, whenever necessary, more frequent meetings at the level of Heads of State and Government. We need to ensure greater respect for and more effective monitoring of the implementation of adopted decisions, while continuing to work towards the full operationalisation of the African Standby Force by providing it with the necessary financial and logistical capacity and effective operational readiness. It is urgent to consolidate the African Union Peace Fund by increasing sovereign contributions, while requiring, in return, strict adherence to the proportional and equitable distribution of resources among the various areas of regional instability. It is important to accelerate the process of integrating the African Peace and Security Architecture with the African Governance Architecture, eliminate overlapping mandates and the fragmentation of resources, and strengthen coordination between the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities and specialised regional mechanisms. We must strengthen sanctions mechanisms and identify those who promote conflicts and those who finance and arm them, focusing our attention on domestic and foreign State and non-State actors, economic networks and individuals who profit and enrich themselves from instability in our countries but nevertheless remain unpunished. We will continue to work with the United Nations and our international partners, while maintaining as our primary objective the ambition of building an African capacity capable of preventing, mediating, managing and resolving our own conflicts. Your Excellencies, We will continue our unwavering efforts in the pursuit of peace on our continent, as this is the only path that will enable us to fulfil the Agenda 2063 that we have established, guided by our firm determination to achieve “The Africa We Want.” Silencing the Guns must be regarded as an imperative that will enable us to resolutely fulfil our commitment to ensuring the economic and social development, integration and prosperity of our continent. I am confident that this Extraordinary Session will provide us with an opportunity to reflect deeply on the realities of our continent, enabling us to make a firm commitment to the importance of prevention, mediation, peace financing, the implementation of decisions and accountability for those who fuel conflicts. Thank you very much for your kind attention.