President Mahama calls for five permanent UN Security Council seats for Africa

President John Dramani Mahama has renewed calls for Africa to secure five permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council as part of efforts to address what he described as the continent’s inadequate representation in global decision-making.

He proposed that the five seats should correspond to Africa’s five regions, allowing each region to have a permanent voice on the powerful UN body.

President Mahama made the proposal in an exclusive interview with TRT World, where he advocated reforms to the United Nations and urged African countries to adopt a common position in their push for an expanded Security Council.

“I think it would have been best if we got five seats, because Africa has five regions. And so each region would have representation,” he said.

The President argued that Africa should first build consensus around expanding the membership of the Security Council before turning its attention to the more contentious question of veto powers.

He cautioned that attempting to negotiate changes to the veto system while simultaneously seeking additional permanent seats could make it harder to win the support of the existing permanent members.

“We need a two-step solution. And so we should speak with one voice and ask for an expansion of the Security Council. Once we expand the Security Council and we have better representation of the Security Council, then we can discuss the veto,” he said.

President Mahama expressed confidence that African countries could reach agreement on the countries that should represent the continent if the proposed expansion is achieved.

His call forms part of a broader push for reform of the UN Security Council, with African leaders and institutions arguing that the current structure does not adequately reflect the continent’s population, size and growing role in international affairs.