Ramaphosa lauds peace efforts, but expert says Africa ‘far from silencing the guns’

President Cyril Ramaphosa, chair of African Union’s (AU) Peace and Security Council, hailed milestones reached at its summit, including resolving conflicts, but a leading expert said the Africa was far from silencing the guns.

In his assessment of the AU summit of heads of state and government, Ramaphosa said the gathering has been “a very productive assembly, which paves the way for peace, economic growth, trade and for the African Peer Review Mechanism to start working more effectively”.

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While the continent faced economic and infrastructure challenges, it was “working collectively to deal with these issues – a clear demonstration of which could be seen in the collective response to Covid”, he said.

Peace efforts Ramaphosa lauded include:

• A breakthrough in the conflict between the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and the Tigray Liberation Front, where a process facilitated in South Africa secured a ceasefire agreement and a commitment to peace.
• Ramaphosa also set out progress with efforts to end conflict in the Democratic of Congo (DRC).
• Steps taken by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to end conflict in Mozambique.

Uphill battle

But to Dr David Monyae, University of Johannesburg associate professor for politics, the AU has an uphill battle in its crusade to silence the guns.

“Africa’s record of silencing the guns reflects a mixed bag, with very tiny pockets of success, amid widespread violence – making noise in Mozambique, eastern part of the DRC and in some sections of Mali,” Monyae said.

“Nigeria, the continent’s largest economy, is unable to offer safety to its people and control its borders.

“While the motto by the AU on silencing the guns may give one hope, we are a long way away from realising its vision.”

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Africa, said Monyae, needed peace and security “before we can see development”.

“Attaining stability is a long-term project. Measuring targets on an annual basis is setting ourselves up to fail.

“To be effective in silencing the guns, it may not require the use of force as a solution. We need infrastructure, jobs and a multiplicity of interventions – ranging from improving agriculture, sufficient education and an atmosphere of tolerance and democracy to exist.

“The AU has come up with a very minimalistic approach. We need a comprehensive intervention, involving the international community,” Monyae said.

“The continuing noise of guns means that there is something seriously wrong in the community. In our intervention, we need to hear the gripes of those behind the guns.

“The problem is that politicians want easy answers, while the AU needs to come up with long-term plans, like Agenda 2063,” said Monyae.

Despite its infrastructure, SADC could not make progress on industrialisation without energy, “if SA – Africa’s most industrialised country – is in darkness”.

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“While the Peer Review Mechanism, staffed by the best thinkers, is one of the AU’s success stories, the big challenge is that government reports are not implemented,” Monyae said.

“There has been slow progress made in the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, because of slow economic growth which the World Bank has put at below 3%, instead of 6% or 9%.

“Africa needs to speed things up on connectivity and infrastructure development.”

Economic growth important

Dr Jakkie Cilliers of the Institute for Security Studies said: “Silencing the guns will only be achieved through a host of measures, most important of which is sustained, inclusive and rapid economic growth for many years.

“The support of the international community is also important – that being undermined by the division following the war in Ukraine and tensions between the West and China,” said Cilliers.

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While the breakthrough in Ethiopia was important, there was “some momentum in the DRC and limited progress in Mozambique”, with the situation in Sahel “getting worse”.

– brians@citizen.co.za