The race to become the next UN Secretary-General is in full swing, but Africa does not have a credible candidate. What is behind this lack of motivation?
In an age when wars rage with impunity, great powers ignore international law, and multilateral institutions appear increasingly marginal, does the office of the United Nations Secretary-General (SG) still matter? Many argue, yes!
Perhaps not as originally conceived in 1945. Despite the various constraints and limitations, the office remains the world’s chief diplomat, its chief mediator, and, often, its last resort when others have stopped talking. The UN oversees a vast area: conflict mediation, humanitarian coordination, climate diplomacy and institutional reform.
Which makes Africa’s absentmindedness in the current selection process all the more baffling. The continent argues for global reform and greater African representation, but has struggled to rally behind a candidate capable of commanding broad continental and international confidence. Perhaps it is because of the current divisions between influential countries like South Africa and Nigeria, and a lack of universally respected continental leaders.
Instead, two candidates have emerged: the former Ugandan Foreign Minister and UN Under-Secretary-General Olara Otunnu, and Senegal’s former President, Macky Sall. Both campaigns appear to have stalled at an early stage, after the first informal Security Council ‘straw poll’ reportedly produced more discouraging than encouraging votes. Further rounds remain, but early polling has often proved an important indicator of a candidate’s viability.
The question is not simply why both candidates have struggled. The larger question is why Africa entered such an important contest without first forging a continental consensus around a candidate whose credentials were likely to command confidence across regions and among the Security Council’s permanent members.
The African frontrunner, Macky Sall’s candidacy was always likely to divide opinion. His final years in office left a bitter political legacy in Senegal. His attempt to manoeuvre towards a controversial third term was widely seen as an assault on one of West Africa’s strongest democratic traditions. Following his departure from office, he left immediately for Morocco, was proposed by Burundi, and only secured a last-minute Senegalese endorsement.
Was he truly Africa’s candidate? Or France’s candidate, as has been alleged? Contrast this with the emergence of Kofi Annan three decades ago. Annan was not simply a Ghanaian candidate. He was widely viewed as an international civil servant of exceptional competence whose integrity, diplomatic skill and deep knowledge of the United Nations commanded confidence well beyond Africa.
UN leadership qualities
That experience raises an uncomfortable question. If Africa believes the office remains strategically important, what qualities should it seek in a future Secretary-General?
The answer should perhaps begin with integrity, followed by proven executive leadership for managing one of the world’s largest and most complex international organisations, requiring experience in administration, budgeting, institutional reform and coalition-building.
Proven diplomatic and mediation skills should be included, as well as intellectual independence beyond the bloc systems, and a genuinely African-first worldview, anchored within a universal framework.
Finally, our candidate should possess long-term strategic vision and an understanding of the international financial architecture, including the Bretton Woods institutions and global climate/development finance challenges confronting the Global South.
Such individuals exist in Africa, but why haven’t they emerged? There may, of course, be another explanation. Perhaps African governments concluded that the informal regional rotation guiding previous appointments pointed this time toward Latin America or the Caribbean, so stepped back.
Or perhaps something deeper is occurring as the post-1945 so-called rules- based international order comes under increasing strain; some African leaders may already be looking beyond the existing architecture rather than investing political capital in its leadership. If so, that would itself be a significant statement.
Yet even if a new system emerges, it will involve multilateralism of some kind, which we still need to prepare for, not treat as an afterthought.
Leadership begins long before the election. It begins with identifying exceptional individuals, building continental consensus, and persuading the world.
This time, Africa has fallen short. For a continent seeking a larger role in shaping the twenty-first century, this has not been its finest hour.
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UN Sec-Gen race: Africa’s missing candidate
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