Peace & Security Council Report

The report examines the risks of increased arms sales to Africa, the fragile peace negotiations in Sudan and Mozambique, and the role of the AfCFTA in addressing structural drivers of conflict. It also critiques the AU Peace and Security Council for its lack of meeting records and discusses security threats in the Sahel.

• Africa faces significant challenges with arms proliferation and a lack of transparency in military spending. In 2018, military expenditure in Africa was approximately US$40.2 billion, with North Africa spending US$22.2 billion and sub-Saharan Africa US$18.8 billion. There are an estimated 100 million uncontrolled small arms and light weapons (SALW) in circulation on the continent, which fuel conflict and criminality.
• Peace negotiations in Sudan, initiated in September 2019, aim to address root causes of conflict such as political and socio-economic marginalisation and the equitable sharing of natural resource revenues from gold, uranium, iron ore, copper, and petroleum. However, the process is hindered by deep-seated mistrust between the transitional government, civilians, and various armed groups.
• The peace agreement between the Mozambican government and RENAMO is in jeopardy following the October 2019 elections, which were marred by allegations of vote rigging and fraud. Additionally, Mozambique faces a growing insurgency by violent extremists in Cabo Delgado province, which some believe is linked to liquefied natural gas finds in the region.
• The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), set to start trading in July 2020, is viewed as a potential long-term response to the structural socio-economic drivers of insecurity. While it could boost intra-African trade by up to US$35 billion by 2022, its implementation is threatened by prevailing insecurity, which restricts the mobility of goods, capital, and people.
• The African Union's Peace and Security Council (PSC) lacks consistent official minutes or verbatim records of its meetings, despite having met nearly 900 times since 2004. This practice hinders institutional memory, prevents the tracking of foreign policy continuity, and limits the accountability of member states to African citizens.
• The Sahel-Sahara region is plagued by violent terrorism, youth unemployment, and rapid urbanisation. Efforts to combat terrorism, including the G5 Sahel and the Multi-National Joint Task Force, involve approximately 30,000 troops fighting fewer than 1,000 Islamist and rebel fighters, suggesting that the success of the fight depends more on organization and political solutions than on the volume of force.

APA

Diatta, M., Louw-Vaudran, L., Attah-Asamoah, A., & Woldemichael, S. (2019). Peace & Security Council Report. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-119.pdf

Chicago

Diatta, Mohamed, Liesl Louw-Vaudran, Andrews Attah-Asamoah, and Shewit Woldemichael. Peace & Security Council Report. Institute for Security Studies, 2019. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-119.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Diatta |first1=Mohamed |last2=Louw-Vaudran |first2=Liesl |last3=Attah-Asamoah |first3=Andrews |last4=Woldemichael |first4=Shewit |title=Peace & Security Council Report |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=November 2019 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-119.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{diatta2019peace, author = {Diatta, Mohamed and Louw-Vaudran, Liesl and Attah-Asamoah, Andrews and Woldemichael, Shewit}, title = {{Peace \& Security Council Report}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2019}, month = nov, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/psc-119.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }