Nigeria seeks cooperation from Japan and others to address security challenges in Africa

Foreign Minister Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar has deplored the surge in security threats in Africa and its implications for the continent’s development.

The minister expressed this regret while speaking at the ministerial meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), held from 24 to 25 August 2024 in Tokyo, Japan.

He said Africa’s security and development landscape is increasingly exposed to complex threats in the form of terrorism and transnational organized crime, stressing that these vices are destabilizing Africa’s peace and security architecture, undermining the pursuit of democracy and good governance, and discouraging foreign direct investors from investing in the continent.

He, however, reiterated Africa’s commitment to harnessing TICAD’s multidimensional approaches to address the root causes of security challenges that hinder its development.

Tuggar further said that the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, the presence of foreign mercenaries, the impact of climate change and the availability of safe havens that encourage illicit financial flows are of concern to the continent, adding that the continent loses an estimated $88.6 billion annually due to illicit flows, or the equivalent of 3% of its GDP.

Tuggar also drew attention to the activities of cryptocurrency pirates who undermine the continent’s macroeconomic reforms by attacking local currencies.

He hypothesized that these exogenous factors are responsible for the unconstitutional changes of government (UCG) witnessed on the continent, noting that these security challenges could be the reason for the perceived decline of Japanese investment in Africa.

However, he encouraged Japan not to stand back but to work with African leaders and other African development partners to address the challenges, while stressing that multidimensional support from Japan and other partners is needed to realize the global desire for a developed Africa, and called for greater support to address security issues in the Lake Chad, Great Lakes and Sahel region, as well as in Sudan, Somalia and other parts of Africa currently facing security challenges.

The Minister further proposed that the 9th TICAD Summit focus on providing strategic infrastructure, foreign direct investment, capacity building and technology transfer to support the growth of indigenous entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as engage in the progressive empowerment of women and youth in Africa.

He called on Japan to join Africa in promoting the reform of the United Nations Security Council in support of Africa’s quest for fair and equitable representation on the Security Council, which he said was ethically just and temporally restorative. He said Africa deserved two seats in the permanent and non-permanent categories, as encapsulated in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration.

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