Category: Africa

By Dikeledi Molobela 

New York, USA – Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina has called for sustained leadership and investment in Africa’s water sector, saying the continent’s development, climate resilience and economic growth depend on closing the water investment gap.

Speaking on behalf of President Cyril Ramaphosa at a high-level panel on water investments at the African Union Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York on Monday, Minister Majodina urged leaders, investors and development partners to turn commitments into concrete investments that improve access to water.

The panel, held under the theme: “Mobilising Commitments towards the 2026 UN Water Conference, the 2030 SDG Agenda and Africa Water Vision 2063”, was convened ahead of the 2026 UN Water Conference, which will take place in Abu Dhabi from 8 to 10 December.

The conference will bring together governments, development partners, investors and other stakeholders to advance global cooperation on water and accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation.

In opening her remarks, Minister Majodina conveyed President Ramaphosa’s apology for not being able to attend the UN General Assembly High-Level Week and said the President had asked her to represent him at the roundtable.

Building on Africa’s water investment agenda

Minister Majodina highlighted the work of the African Union-Africa Water Investment Programme (AU-AIP), noting that the initiative emerged from recommendations of the High-Level Panel on Water established in 2016. 

The AU-AIP Water Investment Summit held in Cape Town in 2025, during South Africa’s G20 Presidency, brought together governments, investors, development partners and other stakeholders to accelerate investment in Africa’s water sector.

“In 2025, African leaders presided over the AU-AIP Africa Water Investment Summit, held during South Africa’s G20 Presidency. The summit culminated in the adoption of the Cape Town Declaration on Water Investments and the G20 Leaders’ Declaration, both of which called for scaling up this important initiative through the Global Investment Platform (GIP),” she said.

She said the Global Investment Platform and de-risking mechanisms were intended to mobilise bankable projects, provide blended finance and partnerships with public and private investors, help governments unlock investment at scale, match projects with financiers and strengthen global cooperation on water investments.

80 projects presented to investors

Majodina said the AU-AIP had identified, packaged and delivered 80 investor-ready projects from the continent, working with AUDA-NEPAD to create matchmaking opportunities between Member States and potential investors.

“The AU-AIP identified, packaged and delivered 80 investor-ready projects from the continent, working with AUDA-NEPAD, for onside matchmaking opportunity, pitched by Member States, as project owners,” she said.

She described the matchmaking process as a “remarkable marketplace” and said the initiative would be sustained and expanded with the objective of making investment in water the norm.

“We are happy to receive the progress of the 10 to 12 billion USD commitment that came out of process,” she said.

Investment critical to achieving SDG 6

Majodina said the African water investment agenda was closely aligned with the objectives of the upcoming UN Water Conference, where South Africa is co-chair of Interactive Dialogue F on Investments for Water. 

She called on leaders and partners to maintain momentum towards the December conference.

“As the co-chair of the 2026 UN Water Conference, Interactive Dialogue-F, co-hosted by one of the AIP founding Member States, Senegal and the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and the AIP, continue to request your leadership and handholding as towards the UN Water Conference on the AU-AIP theme, which became theme F of the 2026 Water conference,” she said. 

She also returned to a central message from the AU-AIP Summit.

“We further draw wisdom and continue to reflect on one of the key take-home messages that we carried out of the AU-AIP Summit that said: ‘If the world continues to under-invest in water, the world will under-deliver on development, climate resilience, and economic growth’.”

The Minister said adequate and strategic investment in water could help accelerate progress towards SDG 6.

“The flip side of the take home message is that, if the world can invest adequately and strategically in water, we can be assured that the five Interactive Dialogues of the 2026 UN Water Conference can impact and fast track achievement of SDG6.”

Africa calls for leadership at Abu Dhabi conference

Minister Majodina said Senegal, South Africa, Egypt, Zambia and Ghana were representing the continent as co-hosts and co-chairs of the 2026 UN Water Conference. 

“Our submission today as member states representing the continent, Senegal, South Africa, Egypt, Zambia and Ghana, in the capacity of co-hosts and co-chairs of the 2026 UN Water Conference. Our prayer request is for our leaders to consider to attending the upcoming 2026 UN Water Conference, scheduled for the 08 to 10 December 2026, as Africa needs the envisaged outcomes more,” Majodina said.

She called for continued leadership and action to transform the water ecosystem and improve access for underserved communities.

“Your continued availability flowing from the success of the AU-AIP Water Investment Summit, to assure Investors of your leadership commitment through action to transform the water ecosystem and bring hope to the global citizens particularly the unserved and improve access to water for all at a global scale.

“We look forward to your leadership in Abu Dhabi,” she said. – SAnews.gov.za

By Dikeledi Molobela 

New York, USA — South Africa is calling for a global framework to govern artificial intelligence (AI), warning that the rapid development and spread of the technology requires international guardrails to manage its potential risks.

South Africa’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Mxolisi Sizo Nkosi, told SAnews that AI governance would be among the issues South Africa raises during the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), placing the technology firmly within the country’s broader multilateral and foreign policy agenda. 

Nkosi said South Africa is concerned about the implications of AI developing without adequate international frameworks to guide its use.

“How AI can really have a devastating impact if we do not have the guardrails, we do not have a framework that really guides the operation, the development and the spread of AI. This is a matter that has been raised not only by governments but also by tech companies themselves, who have really called for the slowing down of AI development due to what they see as the emergence of uncontrolled models and some rogue behaviour by AI systems,” he said.

He said the question of AI governance has become increasingly important as governments and technology companies grappled with the pace at which increasingly powerful systems are being developed.

“The issue of AI governance is very critical.”

South Africa wants the discussion to move beyond technological development towards a global governance framework that can guide the development and use of AI.

Nkosi said South Africa would like to see an outcome from UNGA81 committing countries to work towards such a framework. 

“And then, of course, on AI, it’s also important that a statement should come out of this General Assembly committing the international community to the development of a framework for global for the global governance of artificial intelligence,” he told SAnews.

The issue comes as the international community continues to debate how to maximise the benefits of AI while addressing risks associated with increasingly powerful systems. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has also called for stronger international cooperation and common safeguards around AI.

For South Africa, the AI debate forms part of a wider argument for a multilateral system capable of responding to technological and economic changes that transcend national borders.

Nkosi said AI would be discussed alongside other major issues on South Africa’s UNGA81 agenda, including international peace and security, climate change, UN reform, inequality and the selection of a new UN Secretary-General.

He said these priorities were aligned with South Africa’s broader foreign policy approach.

“South Africa’s foreign policy is predicated on the promotion of peace and security. So, what we are doing here is really aligned with our foreign policy. Other pillars of our foreign policy are around the promotion of respect for human rights, the narrowing of the gap between the developed and developing countries,” he said. 

He added that South Africa would use various platforms during the high-level week to outline its positions on these issues.

The AI governance push also gives South Africa an opportunity to link the technological debate to questions of development and global inequality, particularly around who benefits from new technologies and who has the capacity to govern them. 

For Pretoria, the objective is therefore not only to participate in the global AI conversation, but to contribute to shaping the international rules that will govern the technology. – SAnews.gov.za

By Dikeledi Molobela

New York, USA — New York is beginning to look less like the city that never sleeps and more like the city where the world converges to talk.

Around the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, the city’s familiar rhythm has given way to the unmistakable buzz of the UN 2026 High-Level Week. Official vehicles weave through the streets; security has been stepped up; police officers are stationed around key areas, while diplomats, government officials, journalists and delegations move steadily through the heart of the city.

For a few days, this corner of Manhattan becomes a meeting point for the world – a place where global issues take centre stage and conversations that reach far beyond New York unfold behind the familiar skyline.

The flags of nations represented at the United Nations provide a fitting backdrop to a week in which the world’s attention turns to New York, as countries prepare to set out their positions on some of the most pressing challenges confronting the international community.

Inside the UN complex, preparations are underway for the 81st session of the General Assembly, whose General Debate begins on Tuesday and runs through 28 September.

Nearly every major global question is on the table, from peace and security and climate change, to development, inequality, artificial intelligence, global health and the future of multilateralism.

The UN has described the 2026 High-Level Week as an opportunity to advance collective action for peace, dignity and equality, under the theme: “Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all”.

For South Africa, however, the week is about more than occupying a seat in the General Assembly.

The country is arriving in New York with a defined agenda aimed at advancing reform of the global system, strengthening Africa’s voice in international decision-making and placing inequality, development and global governance firmly on the agenda.

South Africa’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Mxolisi Sizo Nkosi, says UNGA81 provides an important opportunity to push forward the country’s foreign policy priorities.

“UNGA81 presents a number of opportunities for South Africa to advance its foreign policy agenda, flowing from the G20 summit that we hosted in Johannesburg last year,” Nkosi told SANews.

Among South Africa’s key priorities will be the launch of an initiative aimed at tackling one of the defining challenges facing countries across the world – inequality.

Nkosi said South Africa, together with Norway, Spain and Brazil, will host an event to launch the International Panel on Inequality, with the objective of building support among UN Member States for measures to address inequality within and between countries.

“We see what the drivers of this inequality are. It’s impacting a number of countries, generally as a result of external shocks,” Nkosi said.

He pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and disruptions to food and energy supplies as examples of external shocks that can deepen existing inequalities.

The initiative will seek an endorsement of its vision statement before moving towards a proposed General Assembly resolution establishing the International Panel on Inequality.

The International Panel on Inequality event is scheduled for 23 September and will bring together governments and international organisations around the proposed initiative.

For Nkosi, securing support for the initiative would be one of the clearest measures of South Africa’s success at UNGA81.

“Our big priority here is to get support for our vision statement on the international panel on inequality. If we can get endorsement of our vision statement, that will be a big achievement for South Africa because that will launch us into the next phase, which will be to get a resolution of the General Assembly, and that will be a very big achievement for South Africa’s foreign policy,” the Ambassador told SAnews.

Addressing inequality, however, will be only one part of South Africa’s broader objectives. Nkosi said AI governance has emerged as an increasingly important issue, while impressed on the importance of putting in place guardrails to guide its development and practical use.

“It’s also important that a statement should come out of this General Assembly committing the international community to the development of a framework for the global governance of artificial intelligence.

“These will be apex priorities and outcomes that will constitute elements of a successful 81st session of the UNGA,” Nkosi said. 

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola is leading the South African delegation and is scheduled to address the General Debate, where the country will outline its positions on international peace and security, the global economy, climate change, artificial intelligence and reform of the multilateral system.

South Africa will also use the week to advance its longstanding call for reform of the United Nations, including reform of the Security Council to give Africa a more meaningful voice in global decision-making.

The issue comes as the UN itself undergoes a major reform process, while countries also prepare for the selection of a new Secretary-General following the end of António Guterres’s term at the end of 2026.

The UN’s 81st session is unfolding at a moment of institutional transition, alongside major geopolitical and economic pressures. The General Assembly’s official programme includes high-level meetings on the right to development, sea-level rise, pandemic preparedness and the 25th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.

Nkosi said these issues are interconnected within South Africa’s foreign policy.

“South Africa’s foreign policy is predicated on the promotion of peace and security. What we are doing here is aligned with our foreign policy. Other pillars of our foreign policy are around the promotion of respect for human rights, and the narrowing of the gap between the developed and developing countries,” he said.

South Africa will also seek to reinforce its position on climate change and a just transition, while the 25th anniversary of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action will provide another important moment for the country.

Nkosi said South Africa regards itself as a custodian of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action following the 2001 World Conference against Racism held in Durban.

As New York prepares for the hosting of world leaders and senior officials, South Africa’s delegation will enter the week seeking to turn broad diplomatic principles into concrete multilateral action. 

For a city accustomed to the movement of millions of people every day, New York feels different during UN High-Level Week.

The security presence is more visible. The streets around the United Nations Headquarters are more tightly controlled. Diplomatic vehicles stream through the area, while officials, journalists and delegates move with a heightened sense of purpose.

For a few days, a small stretch of Manhattan becomes a stage for conversations that reach far beyond New York, drawing the world’s diplomatic attention into a few blocks around the UN.

For South Africa, it is an opportunity to ensure that its voice – and the priorities of Africa and the wider Global South it represents – remain firmly part of that conversation. – SAnews.gov.za

By Dikeledi Molobela

New York, USA — South Africa is pushing for greater African representation on the United Nations Security Council, with the country using ongoing intergovernmental negotiations on UN reform to advance the African Union’s position for permanent representation. 

This is according to South Africa’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, Ambassador Mxolisi Sizo Nkosi, who spoke to SANews ahead of the start of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. 

Nkosi said the reform of the Security Council remains an important part of South Africa’s agenda at the 81st UN General Assembly, as Pretoria seeks to build support for the African position contained in the Ezulwini Consensus.

The Security Council currently comprises 15 members, five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms.

“In terms of the steps that need to be taken to advance this agenda, we need to accelerate the debate in the UN. Currently, we have a debate. The item is on the agenda. There is what we call intergovernmental negotiations (IGN) that are taking place in the UN and these are focused on the reform of the UN, with a specific focus on the expansion of the Security Council,” Nkosi said.

South Africa maintains that the Council must be expanded to make its composition more representative of the contemporary international system, particularly by addressing Africa’s absence from the permanent category.

“We firmly believe, as a country, that in line with the Ezulwini Consensus, which is the African Union position, the Security Council has to be expanded,” Nkosi told SAnews.

Africa currently has representation among the Council’s elected members, but no permanent seat. The UN Charter provides for five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members, with the latter elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. 

Nkosi said Africa’s case for a permanent role was grounded in the continent’s demographic, economic and geopolitical significance, as well as its direct stake in questions of international peace and security.

“Africa is one of the regions that are not represented in the Security Council in the permanent category. It’s important that Africa should be represented in the UN. We’ve got a significant population of over one 1 billion people in the African continent. 

“We have a significant economy with a significant role to play in international politics. If you look at it from a security point of view, the majority of conflicts that are taking place in the world today, both intrastate and interstate… are in Africa … hence, we believe that we have to be represented,” Nkosi emphasised.

He said South Africa would continue advancing the Ezulwini Consensus through the IGN process, with the question of the form that African representation should take to be addressed once agreement on Council expansion is reached.

The Security Council has primary responsibility under the UN Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security, making its composition and decision-making structures a central issue in broader debates about UN reform. The UN says the intergovernmental negotiations on Council reform address questions, including equitable representation and an increase in membership.

South Africa’s push for reform forms part of its broader call for a multilateral system that is more representative and responsive to current global challenges. 

Nkosi said the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, who is leading the South African delegation to UNGA81, will outline the country’s positions on a range of international issues during the General Debate.

He said the reform of the United Nations, along with peace and security, the global economy, climate change, artificial intelligence governance and the selection of a new UN Secretary-General, would feature in South Africa’s engagements during the high-level week. – SAnews.gov.za

By Dikeledi Molobela

New York, USA — South Africa will use the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to seek international backing for the establishment of an International Panel on inequality, with the country identifying the fight against inequality as one of its key diplomatic priorities for the week.   

South Africa, together with Brazil, Norway and Spain, will host a high-level event on the margins of UNGA81 to launch the proposed International Panel on Inequality and build support for the initiative.

South Africa’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Mxolisi Sizo Nkosi, told SAnews that the initiative builds on the country’s work during its G20 Presidency and seeks to place inequality at the centre of the international development debate.

“One of the key issues that we were able to secure agreement on at the G20 Summit is the issue of fighting Inequality,” Nkosi said.

He said the proposed panel would seek to bring all 193 UN Member States into discussions on measures to address inequality both within and between countries, while examining the forces driving those disparities.

“Here at UNGA81, we will be hosting an event together with Norway, Spain, and Brazil, where we will be launching the international panel on inequality, which will be a major achievement, in that it will bring together all the 193 Member States of the UN to agree on measures to take in order to fight inequality between and within States, and we see what are the drivers of this inequality,” he told SANews.

The event is scheduled for 23 September and is intended to generate support for a proposed International Panel on Inequality. The United Nations lists the event among the high-level activities taking place during UNGA81. 

Nkosi said the urgency of the initiative had been underscored by a series of global shocks that have disproportionately affected economies and communities.

He pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and disruptions to food and energy supplies as examples of crises that have deepened economic vulnerabilities.

“COVID-19 was one of the unforeseen events that had a major impact on many countries. Businesses closed, economies contracted and the pandemic created several inflationary pressures,” he said. 

He also pointed to the impact of the war in Ukraine on grain and fertiliser supplies and the consequences of energy price increases. 

“We also saw the war in in Ukraine, how it also impacted on the supply of grains of fertilisers, which are very essential for food production, putting a number of countries in a perilous position in terms of food security,” Nkosi said.

The proposed panel will examine inequality not only as a domestic economic issue, but also through the lens of the global system and the shocks that can widen the gap between countries.

“All these external shocks have had a major impact on countries, accelerating inequality in many countries and also accelerating inequality between the Global South and Global North,” Nkosi said.

South Africa hopes the UNGA event will result in an endorsement of the initiative’s vision statement.

That, Nkosi said, would pave the way for the next phase of the process seeking a General Assembly resolution formally establishing the International Panel on Inequality.

“We think that this is a very pertinent agenda to place here at the UN, and we hope that at the event that we’ll be hosting, we’ll be able to get an endorsement of our vision statement, and then beyond that, we will be socialising a discussion in the General Assembly, with a view to having a resolution adopted by the General Assembly establishing the International Panel on Inequality,” he said. 

For South Africa, securing that endorsement would represent a significant outcome from UNGA81.

“Our big priority here is to is to get support for our vision statement on the international panel on inequality.

“If we can get endorsement of our vision statement, that will be a big achievement for South Africa because then it will launch us into the next phase, which will be to get a resolution of the General Assembly, and that will be a very big achievement for South Africa’s foreign policy,” Nkosi said.

The General Assembly’s 81st session is taking place under the theme: “Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all”, with the General Debate beginning on 22 September.  

For South Africa, the test will be whether that call for a UN that delivers can translate into concrete multilateral action, beginning with international support for its inequality initiative. – SAnews.gov.za