Why a new global order resonates with the aspirations and interests of Africans

The 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations (UN) in New York highlighted the extent of global insecurity and fractures in the international system. Leaders of African nations seized the moment to register their discontent with the skewed international system.

There was a broad consensus on the legitimacy and relevance of the UN, except for the President of the United States (US), Donald Trump, whose speech largely dismissed the significant role of the UN in international affairs. However, African leaders strongly support the reform of the UN, demanding inclusivity, equal representation, and participation.

President Ruto of Kenya unambiguously led the African case for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), demanding at least two permanent seats with full rights – including the power to veto, to ensure the voice of Africa is heard.  Africa dominates much of the Security Council’s agenda and provides some of the largest peacekeeping contingents. Africa bears the heaviest costs of instability, yet remains the only continent without a permanent seat at the main table.” 

The UN, as with many of the post-World War 11 power arrangements, must reflect today’s realities if they are to remain relevant in this century, or it will be rendered dead.  China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the five countries with permanent seats at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), all agree that it is time to include the African countries, but the process has been excruciatingly slow.

But it’s not only the UN where Africa has been totally marginalised, and its agency undermined, if not ignored. Successive leaders from the continent have consistently called for the reform, even rethinking of a multilateral system that has been historically skewed in favour of the West. This includes such institutions as the World Bank (WB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which are structurally exclusionary and quite often quite oblivious to the historical socio-political conditions facing the African continent.

 The rules of these institutions have also been used as a big stick to whip countries in the Global South to comply with external Western agendas and interests. For example, last week, the US said that it will block Zimbabwe from accessing any capital from the WB or IMF if the government fails to comply with its stated terms in compensating Zimbabwean former commercial farmers who lost their land during the Fast Track Land Reform (FTLR) in the 2000s. Such a posture smacks of intrusive intervention in the domestic affairs of a sovereign nation, impeding on its ability to independently chart its economic path.

There is no doubt that the UN has made historic contributions to maintaining world peace and development. However, the contemporary international landscape suggests serious tremors challenging multilateralism, resulting in a growing deficit in global governance. The UN and post-World War 11 institutions emerged out of deep reflection on the bitter lessons of the two world wars, and the realisation that there is a need for new rules and practices for global governance to maintain sustainable global peace and stability. This process resulted in the emergence of the international system as we know it today, with the UN at its core. 

The UN was created to manage an international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms of international relations are underpinned by globally shared purpose and principles enunciated in the U.N. Charter. However, as concisely captured in a new concept paper unveiled by the Chinese government in September 2025, the UN multilateral system is under unprecedented attack, raising the risk of debilitating global insecurity.

 According to the concept paper, the UN system faces three major inadequacies, starting with serious underrepresentation of, and failure to redress, historical injustices incurred in the Global South despite the collective rise of emerging markets and developing countries. The erosion of the authority of the UN equally undermines its purpose, principles, and efficacy.

A combination of tendentious undermining of UNSC Resolutions and the unilateral imposition of sanctions, among other practices, has violated international law and disrupted the international order. Selective application of international law, like in the case of the US wars on Iraq and Libya in 2003 and 2011, respectively, totally overlooks and ignores international law amidst gross violations, as in the case of violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza, which continue to undermine and erode the international system.

The concept paper also calls for urgency in fostering greater effectiveness in the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The UN 2030 has seriously fallen behind in meeting its goals and targets amidst yawning gaps and a lack of political will to confront the adversities of climate change and the digital divide. Africa and much of the Global South continue to trail on the margins of rapid technological revolution, while grappling with the deadly adversities of climate change.  There are yawning governance gaps in the new frontiers, such as artificial intelligence (AI), cyberspace, and outer space, posing major risks to global security interests.

 Consolidating global cooperation and collaboration under the UN could generate mutually beneficial outcomes for all humanity.  China has further proposed the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) to promote the building of a more just and equitable global governance system, rallying the international community to work together for a community with a shared future for humanity. The GGI will promote the purpose and principles of the UN Charter, advancing the vision of global governance rooted in extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit.

The GGI further illustrates the commitment of China to work with willing internal community partners to maintain sovereign equality in state-to-state relations despite political or economic power or size, promoting the spirit, purpose, and principles of the UN Charter. This means recognising and upholding the right of all countries to exercise their sovereign rights, respect their dignity, and refraining from external interference in the domestic affairs of other nations.

 Western external interference has continued to be a major problem in Africa and much of the Global South. These countries, frequently subjected to imperial whims, must retain the right to independently choose their social systems, development path, the right to participate in and make decisions in, and benefit from the global governance processes as equals.

The GGI will be committed to promoting international rule of law and multilateralism as the core foundation of the existing international system and international order. It will be driven through a people-centred approach, recognising the agency of people of all nations as equal actors in global governance, ultimately benefiting their well-being. The GGI will be results-oriented, focused on resolving  real problems, promoting a more coordinated, systematic, and holistic approach to effectively tackle contemporary issues and provide sustainable solutions.

China is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and the biggest developing country. Beijing, China, has played a significant role in promoting world peace, contributing to global development, upholding the international order, and providing public goods in ways that benefit all countries by creating development opportunities.

It is therefore not surprising that Africa and the Global South is coalescing in new broadly inclusive, representative, equitable and mutually beneficial initiatives such as the BRICS, the Global Governance Initiative (GGI), Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI) and the Global Civilisation Initiative (GCI). Africa and its partners in the Global South cannot continue to be overlooked.

Gideon Chitanga, PhD, is a Political and International Relations Analyst.