Many African leaders attending the UN General Assembly have a clear agenda: securing a stronger voice in global governance, advancing peace and security, and mobilizing resources for sustainable development.  

Following this year's UNGA theme, "Better Together: 80 Years and More for Peace, Development and Human Rights," the African leaders are expected to push for a more equitable world order — one that reflects the continent's growing geopolitical relevance and addresses its historical marginalization. But these aspirations are tempered by a complex mix of urgent challenges and long-standing demands for reform.

This year's UNGA comes at a time when world leaders are grappling with crises from Gaza to Ukraine and question whether the United States, with its "America First" foreign policy, is still prepared to play a leadership role in global affairs.

But conflicts in the Sahel region and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have captured large swaths of territory, including the cities of Goma and Bukavu, are unlikely to get much attention at UNGA.

Push for reforms

Calls for reform at the United Nations are not new. Still, African leaders are renewing their demand for permanent representation on the UN Security Council, arguing that the current structure is outdated and unjust.

Though African countries make significant contributions to UN peacekeeping missions and global development, they remain= underrepresented in key decision-making processes.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa warned in his weekly newsletter on Monday that the outdated structure of the Security Council and the persistent use of veto powers by permanent members are eroding the UN's legitimacy and obstructing global peace efforts.

"These five permanent members effectively make decisions on behalf of more than 85% of the world's population living in countries of the Global South," Ramaphosa said.

"They continue to use their veto powers to effectively paralyze collective action and prevent timely responses to crises, even in the face of clear violations of international law," he added.

Ramaphosa said this imbalance undermined the UN's neutrality and credibility.

No permanent seat for Africa in sight

"We know that, even for the five permanent seats at the UN Security Council to be expanded to accommodate any other country as a permanent member, there has to be a charter amendment because the United Nations was established by a guiding document, which we call the UN Charter, and that charter amendment requires a two-thirds majority," Michael Kwadwo Nketiah, an international relations analyst, told DW.

"Now, Africa may have to convince all the other member states to buy into this ideology of why Africa deserves a seat at the UN Security Council," Nketiah said. "That is one hurdle on its own to take the majority amendment requirement."

Even if the African Union were successful in getting two-thirds of the 193 member states to vote for the AU's inclusion on the Security Council, this resolution would still need ratification by the five permanent members: the UK, France, the US, China and Russia.

"These countries have never and are not willing to share their power with other member states of the United Nations," Nketiah said.

Renewed calls to recognize Palestinian state

Of all the African leaders, Ramaphosa has been the most vocal in condemning the ongoing violence in Gaza and has on several occasions reiterated that South Africa will not remain silent on the war. 

Ramaphosa wrote on X that South Africa is committed "to the creation of a contiguous Palestinian State existing peacefully and side by side with the State of Israel, along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital." 

Other African leaders have also expressed solidarity with Palestinians, drawing parallels between their struggle and Africa's own history of colonialism and oppression.

"Many African countries already recognize Palestine," Fidel Amakye Owusu, a security analyst specializing in African affairs and geopolitics, told DW. 

"What is new to the West in this new recognition of Palestine is something old to Africans," Owusu said. "We've always recognized Palestine, and this two-state solution has been the agenda." 

Owusu was referring to this week's recognition of a Palestinian state by France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Portugal and Australia.

"What Ramaphosa is pushing for is for Palestine to be upgraded from observer status to a full member of the UN, where it can vote and join the Security Council when the time is right," Owusu said.

"And that is going to be difficult, because it would mean that all five permanent members of the UN Security Council must accept."

Edited by: Keith Walker