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From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has lamented the high level of security threats in Africa and its implications for the development of the continent.
Tuggar, while speaking at the Ministerial Meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Tokyo, Japan, said the security of Africa and its developmental landscape was increasingly going through complex threats in the form of terrorism and transnational organised crimes.
In a statement made available to Daily Sun by his Special Assistant on Media and Communications Strategy, Alkasim Abdulkadir, Tuggar stated that the ills were destabilising Africa’s peace and security architecture, undermining the pursuit of democracy and good governance, and disincentivising foreign direct investors from investing on the continent.
“He however reiterated Africa’s commitment to leveraging the TICAD’s multidimensional approaches to addressing the root drivers of the security challenges encumbering its development. The Minister also stated 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 encouraging illicit financial flows are worrisome to the continent, stating that the continent loses an estimated US$88.6 billion annually to illicit flows or the equivalent of three percent of its GDP,” Abdulkadir disclosed.
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Tuggar further drew the attention of TICAD to the activities of cryptocurrency pirates undermining macroeconomic reforms on the continent by attacking local currencies.
“He posited these exogenous factors are responsible for the Unconstitutional Change of Governments (UCGs) being witnessed on the continent. Furthermore, he noted that these security challenges could be the reason for the perceived decline in Japanese investment in Africa. He, however, encouraged Japan not to shy away, but to work with African leaders and other African development partners towards tackling the challenges. He equally emphasised that multidimensional support from Japan and other partners is required to actualise the global desire for a developed Africa and called for increased support in addressing the security concerns in the Lake Chad region, the Great Lakes, and the Sahel regions, as well as Sudan, Somalia, and other parts of Africa currently facing security challenges.
“The Minister also proposed that the TICAD 9 Summit should focus on providing strategic infrastructure, foreign direct investments, capacity building, and the transfer of technology to support the growth of indigenous entrepreneurship, and innovation as well as engage in the progressive empowerment of women and youths in Africa,” Abdulkadir added.
Tuggar however called on Japan to join Africa in pushing for the reform of the United Nations Security Council in support of Africa’s quest for fair and equitable representation in the Security Council, saying that it was ethically just and temporally restitutive.
Tuggar also said Africa deserved two seats in the permanent and non–permanent categories, as encapsulated in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration.
