Part of the broader Pan-Africanism movement, a political, cultural, and intellectual effort to promote unity, solidarity, and collective empowerment among African peoples and those of African descent worldwide, the Pan-African Congress (PAC) is a long-standing series of international meetings and gatherings bringing together African political and civil society leaders as well as African intellectuals and diaspora communities.

The 9th PAC dedicated to the theme “Renewal of Pan-Africanism and Africa’s role in the reform of multilateral institutions: mobilising resources and reinventing ourselves to act” took place from 8 to 12 December 2025 in Lomé, Togo. It was co-organised by the Togolese government and the African Union as part of the Decade of African Roots and the African Diaspora (2021-2031). As part of the delegation of the Institute, we were associated with Commission 2 (“Reform of multilateral institutions : role and place of Africa”), with one of us – Eric Degila – acting as the chair of the Commission. 

How one approaches the issue of the role and place of Africa in multilateral institutions is very much a matter of spirit in which one frames the issue. We are both sceptical of the prevailing narrative in the writings of Western international relations scholars which portrays Africa as a norm taker, a passive recipient of global standards and decisions shaped elsewhere, namely in the Global North. African countries’ important contribution to the New International Economic Order or to the  delegitimisation of the colonial rule and apartheid on the global stage is well known.  More recently, in the context of climate justice, Africa has successfully pushed towards a more equitable climate finance and adaptation regime. During COVID-19, Africa transformed global debates on vaccine equity. The African Union’s Peace and Security Architecture offers innovative regional approaches to conflict prevention and mediation. This does not mean, however, that there is no problem to be addressed. The multilateral system currently in place was largely designed in the aftermath of the Second World War, with some congenital malformations. But today’s world is radically different. Africa is central to climate, security, energy and demographic trends of the world, yet it remains structurally under-represented.

At the United Nations, Africa has no permanent seat on the Security Council, even though African situations dominate the Council’s agenda and African troops largely contribute to peacekeeping. In the international financial institutions, Africa’s voting power still lags far behind its demographic and economic weight. Examples can be easily multiplied. The broad point is that this imbalance must be corrected. 

The message we conveyed is that this must be done in the right spirit. As one of the founding figures of post-colonial studies, Gayatri Spivak reminds us, the decisive question is not simply who may speak, but also or even more importantly who is listened to seriously. What this means specifically is that the problem is not always about amplifying Africa’s voice; Africa’s voice is often strong. It is about valuing that voice and allowing it to shape global outcomes. 

Equally important is the realisation that giving Africa a greater role and place in multilateral institutions is not an act of generosity. It must be presented and it must be seen as a prerequisite for effective multilateral governance: a system of governance lacking legitimacy can never be fully effective, and a system of governance cannot be legitimate when it has serious deficiencies in terms of participation and representation. The Ezulwini Consensus and the Sirte Declaration, which call for a more representative Security Council in which Africa is represented with two permanent seats and five non-permanent seats offer innovative paths to address systemic imbalances and design a new global governance architecture.