Peace & Security Council Report

The November 2023 Peace & Security Council Report examines the diplomatic implications of the first Saudi-Africa summit, the coordination between the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) and the UN Security Council's A3 members, the precarious state of South Sudan's transition toward elections, and the AU's efforts to integrate youth into peacebuilding and economic integration via AfCFTA.

• The first Saudi Arabia-Africa summit, held on 10 November in Riyadh, aimed to integrate Africa into Saudi Arabia's multipolar foreign policy and trade agenda. Saudi Arabia pledged over US$25 billion in investments by 2030, including US$10 billion to support exports and US$5 billion in development funding via the Saudi Fund for Development. Additionally, contracts totaling US$533 million were signed for debt relief for Ghana and other African nations.
• Saudi Arabia's decision to invite leaders from AU-suspended states, including Gabon, Niger, and Sudan, is viewed as undermining the AU's anti-coup norms and sanctions. Specifically, discussions with Gabon's Interim President Brice Oligui Nguema regarding the lifting of global sanctions, and the African Development Bank's subsequent lifting of financial sanctions, are cited as directly undermining sanctions regimes.
• The Oran seminar, an annual meeting to enhance cooperation between the AU PSC and the A3 (African members of the UN Security Council), has seen mixed results. While it has produced a draft manual on engagements and coordination, this document has not yet been adopted. There are ongoing concerns regarding the participation of suspended AU members, such as Gabon, in closed sessions, which could dilute AU principles.
• South Sudan's transition toward elections, currently planned for December 2024, is threatened by delayed milestones in the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS). Key issues include the non-implementation of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration processes, and the lack of a census due to poor security and infrastructure. There is a potential conflict of interest as President Salva Kiir is set to become IGAD chair in July 2024, just before the election.
• The AU's revised Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) policy, launching in 2024, introduces youth as a new pillar focusing on protection, prevention, cooperation, and partnerships. However, the report notes that many AU member states have weak youth-centered national policies that often amount to tokenism. The PSC has set targets for member states to have 25% youth-led National Action Plans by 2024 and 50% by 2029.
• Regarding the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as of 2022, 44 of 55 AU member states had domesticated the agreement into their laws. The Guided Trade Initiative (GTI) reported a 20% increase in trade among participating countries in 2022 compared to 2021, and a 30% reduction in average customs-clearance time.

APA

Tadesse, S., Soumahoro, M., Kinkoh, H., & Liaga, E. (2023). Peace & Security Council Report. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-report-163.pdf

Chicago

Tadesse, Selam, Moussa Soumahoro, Hubert Kinkoh, and Emmaculate Liaga. Peace & Security Council Report. Institute for Security Studies, 2023. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-report-163.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tadesse |first1=Selam |last2=Soumahoro |first2=Moussa |last3=Kinkoh |first3=Hubert |last4=Liaga |first4=Emmaculate |title=Peace & Security Council Report |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=November 2023 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-report-163.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tadesse2023peace, author = {Tadesse, Selam and Soumahoro, Moussa and Kinkoh, Hubert and Liaga, Emmaculate}, title = {{Peace \& Security Council Report}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-report-163.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }