Nigeria has urged the African Union to accelerate efforts towards raising a $1 billion Peace Fund and develop innovative financing mechanisms that would reduce the continent’s dependence on external funding for peace and security operations.
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The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, made the call on Saturday at the 26th Extraordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African Union in Luanda, Angola.
The meeting was convened under the theme, “Strengthening Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa.”
Odumegwu-Ojukwu said sustainable, predictable and African-led financing was essential if countries on the continent were to take greater responsibility for preventing and resolving conflicts.
She commended progress already 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 original $400 million capitalisation target.
According to her, the Fund’s balance has now exceeded $405 million, while about $39 million has already been disbursed for mediation, preventive diplomacy, peace support operations and other interventions across the continent.
The minister said the figures demonstrated the growing relevance of the Fund in addressing Africa’s peace and security challenges.
She consequently urged AU member states to honour their assessed contributions and make additional voluntary contributions where possible, arguing that such payments should be regarded as investments in Africa’s collective security and sovereignty rather than mere financial obligations.
“We therefore call on all Member States to honour their assessed contributions and make additional voluntary contributions where possible, viewing these not merely as obligations but as investments in our collective security and sovereignty,” she said.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu stressed that African-led peace operations require reliable funding to meet the costs of personnel, logistics, equipment and other operational requirements.
She warned that uncertainty over financing could weaken peace support operations and undermine interventions designed to prevent or resolve conflicts.
The minister therefore called for a gradual transition from heavy dependence on external assistance towards greater African self-reliance, while acknowledging the continued contribution of international partners.
“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.
She advocated the progressive capitalisation of the AU Peace Fund towards the $1 billion target and increased mobilisation of resources from African financial institutions, the private sector and strategic partners.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu also called for the full implementation of the 0.2 per cent levy provided under the Kigali Financing Decision, urging the AU Commission to explore additional mechanisms capable of generating predictable and long-term revenue.
As part of the options, she proposed that member states could voluntarily provide strategically located land for development by capable private-sector companies and African multilateral financial institutions.
According to her, arrangements reached on mutually acceptable terms could generate annual royalties for the African Union while also stimulating investment, infrastructure development and stronger partnerships among African institutions and businesses.
She, however, stressed that any new financing mechanism must be built around 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 Foreign Affairs Minister reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to collective African efforts towards peace and security, stressing that a peaceful and secure continent was central to achieving the objectives of the AU’s Agenda 2063.
She urged member states to transform the Peace Fund from an initiative they merely endorse into one that is genuinely financed, sustained and owned by Africans.
“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,” Odumegwu-Ojukwu stated..
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