Africa Renews Call for Seat in UN Security Council, Demands Global Finance Reform at TICAD9

•Sierra Leone: Africa’s demand now a matter of justice, not charity

Sunday Ehigiator

Africa’s long-standing demand for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) took centre stage at the just-concluded ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9), with leaders insisting the continent must no longer be excluded from the world’s most powerful decision-making bodies.
Speaking at the close of the event, Sierra Leone’s Chief Minister, David Moinina Sengeh, said Africa’s demand for permanent seats in UNSC and greater influence within International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank was now a matter of justice, not charity.
“The world is much more united in advocacy to give Africa its rightful place at global multilateral institutions starting at the UN Security Council, which must now be matched with action,” Sengeh said in a statement titled, “The Chief’s Diary: From Tokyo with Much More Than Love: The Promises of TICAD9.”
He stressed that unless multilateral institutions became “radically inclusive,” global justice will remain elusive. “Until we make these multilateral institutions more radically inclusive, we will keep moving further away from a just society,” Sengeh stated.
He said the push for reform was expected to intensify at the UN General Assembly High-Level Week in September 2025.
Another major concern raised at TICAD9 was the imbalance in the global financial system, which African leaders argued consistently trapped poorer nations in cycles of debt.
Sengeh said many African governments wanted to invest in infrastructure, healthcare and security, but the terms of international financing often ignored the continent’s economic realities.
He highlighted Africa’s demographic advantage, with nearly 70 per cent of its people under 30, but warned that the continent’s potential remained stifled.
According to Sengeh, “Our young people are coders without devices, farmers without tractors, and researchers without labs.”
He urged governments and partners to provide the resources and policies to unlock Africa’s talent and innovation.
He further stated that the private sector must play a more conscientious role, balancing profit with environmental protection, fair government revenues, and benefits for ordinary citizens.
Sengeh cited the need for domestic revenue mobilisation, debt restructuring, reallocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), and new financing models that supported large-scale development projects.
Responding to insinuations that “Africa +1” summits, like TICAD, were little more than ceremonial talk-shops, Sengeh insisted that such gatherings remained vital for collective bargaining and agenda-setting.
He said, “Our citizens must demand results from these engagements, and it is our responsibility as leaders to bring them along on Africa’s journey of transformation.”
Since its launch in 1993, TICAD has served as a platform for African leaders and development partners to strengthen cooperation.
The ninth edition, held August 20 – 22, under the theme “Co-create Innovative Solutions with Africa,” reaffirmed that Africa’s place in the global order could not remain at the margins.