Nigeria seeks Japan, others’ cooperation in tackling security challenges in Africa

Nigeria seeks Japan, others’ cooperation in tackling security challenges in Africa

JOEL OLADELE, Abuja 

Nigeria has called for international cooperation in addressing the security challenges threatening the continent’s development. 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, made this plea at the Ministerial Meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) held in Tokyo, Japan, from August 24th to 25th, 2024.

According to Ambassador Tuggar, “Africa’s security and development landscape is increasingly witnessing complex threats in the form of terrorism and transnational organized crimes. These vices are destabilizing Africa’s peace and security architecture, undermining the pursuit of democracy and good governance, and disincentivizing foreign direct investors from investing on the continent.”

The Minister also noted that Africa loses an estimated US$88.6 billion annually to illicit flows, equivalent to 3% of its GDP and highlighted the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, the presence of foreign mercenaries, climate change, and the availability of safe havens encouraging illicit financial flows as worrisome factors.

Ambassador Tuggar emphasized that these security challenges could be the reason for the perceived decline in Japanese investment in Africa and encouraged Japan not to shy away from working with African leaders and other African development partners to address the challenges.

“We need multidimensional support from Japan and other partners to actualize the global desire for a developed Africa,” he said. “We also need 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 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.

In conclusion, Ambassador Tuggar 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.

“Africa deserves two seats in the permanent and non-permanent categories, as encapsulated in the Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration,” he said. “This is ethically just and temporally restitutive.”