The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, has called on Japan to join Africa in advocating for reform of the UN Security Council to ensure fair and equitable representation for the continent.
Tuggar disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja by Alkasim Abdulkadir, Special Assistant on Media and Communications Strategy to the minister.
The minister spoke in view of the Ministerial Meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) held from Aug. 24 to Aug. 25, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan.
Tuggar emphasised the need for Africa to have two seats in the permanent and non-permanent categories of the Security Council.
He highlighted the complex security threats facing Africa, including terrorism and transnational organised crime, which were hindering the continent’s growth and development.
Tuggar reiterated Africa’s commitment to leveraging TICAD’s multidimensional approaches to address the root causes of security challenges and expressed concerns over the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, foreign mercenaries, climate change, and illicit financial flows.
The minister noted that Africa loses an estimated 88.6 billion dollars annually to illicit flows, equivalent to 3 per cent of its GDP, and that cryptocurrency pirates were undermining macroeconomic reforms in the continent.
He encouraged Japan to work closely with African leaders and other development partners to tackle these challenges.
He also proposed that the TICAD 9 summit focused on providing strategic infrastructure, foreign direct investments, capacity building, and technology transfer to advance growth and empowerment in Africa.
(NAN)
