Africa and the Convention Banning Biological and Toxin Weapons

The briefing examines the status of the BTWC in Africa during the Seventh Review Conference in December 2011. It highlights that while 37 African countries are States Parties, several others have either signed without ratifying or remain non-members. The author argues that universalisation is hindered by a lack of resources and domestic legislation, and suggests that the BTWC should be framed within a developmental context to increase engagement. Key recommendations include strengthening the Implementation Support Unit (ISU), improving biosafety measures in African laboratories, and engaging the African Union to address the perception that weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are primarily a concern of the developed world.

• As of November 2011, 37 African countries are States Parties to the BTWC. Seven African states have signed but not ratified the treaty: Central African Republic, Côte d`Ivoire, Egypt, Liberia, Malawi, Somalia, and United Republic of Tanzania. Nine states are not members: Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Guinea, Mauritania, and Namibia.
• The Implementation Support Unit (ISU), based in Geneva, is under-resourced with only three full-time staff members. There is a need to improve its mandate, finances, and staffing to better match support offers with state needs and to assist African states in creating domestic legislation to criminalize unlawful acts under the BTWC.
• Africa's primary security concerns regarding biological agents are not intentional misuse, but rather naturally occurring infectious disease outbreaks, such as Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa fever. The region suffers from insufficient and under-resourced biosafety measures and a lack of diagnostic facilities.
• The Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (SACIDS), headquartered at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania, is a consortium of 25 institutions focusing on human, animal, and eventually plant infectious diseases across the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Tanzania.

APA

Stott, N. (2011). Africa and the Convention Banning Biological and Toxin Weapons. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/africa-and-the-convention-banning-biological-and-toxin-weapons

Chicago

Stott, Noel. Africa and the Convention Banning Biological and Toxin Weapons. Institute for Security Studies, 2011. https://issafrica.org/iss-today/africa-and-the-convention-banning-biological-and-toxin-weapons.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stott |first1=Noel |title=Africa and the Convention Banning Biological and Toxin Weapons |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=2011 |url=https://issafrica.org/iss-today/africa-and-the-convention-banning-biological-and-toxin-weapons |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stott2011africa, author = {Stott, Noel}, title = {{Africa and the Convention Banning Biological and Toxin Weapons}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2011}, url = {https://issafrica.org/iss-today/africa-and-the-convention-banning-biological-and-toxin-weapons}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }