Africa and the Convention Banning Biological and Toxin Weapons

This briefing by the Institute for Security Studies discusses the status of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (BTWC) in Africa during the Seventh Review Conference in December 2011. It advocates for the universalisation of the treaty across the continent, the strengthening of the BTWC's Implementation Support Unit (ISU), and the alignment of the convention with Africa's specific developmental and public health needs.

• As of November 2011, 37 African countries were States Parties to the BTWC. Seven countries had signed but not ratified the treaty: Central African Republic, Côte d`Ivoire, Egypt, Liberia, Malawi, Somalia, and United Republic of Tanzania. Nine countries were not members: Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Guinea, Mauritania, and Namibia. South Sudan, which became independent in July 2011, is also noted as needing to accede to the convention over time.
• The BTWC's Implementation Support Unit (ISU), based in the Geneva Branch of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, is considered under-resourced with only three full-time staff members. There is a stated 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, as many currently lack such laws.
• Africa's primary security concerns regarding biological agents are not intentional misuse, but rather naturally occurring infectious disease outbreaks, specifically African viral haemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola, Marburg, Lassa fever, and Rift Valley fever. The region faces challenges with under-resourced biosafety measures and a need for improved diagnostic facilities and scientific research.
• The Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (SACIDS), headquartered at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania, is a consortium of 25 institutions. It focuses on human and animal infectious diseases in Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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} }