Africa Must Fund Its Peace – NNN

President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah says Africa must stop depending heavily on outside funding to deal with conflicts on the continent, calling for stronger contributions from African countries and the private sector to finance peace efforts.

Nandi-Ndaitwah made the remarks yesterday in an interview with New Era shortly after returning from Luanda, Angola, where she attended the 21st Extraordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly on strengthening mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution in Africa.

She said one of the key outcomes of the summit was the adoption of what she described as the Luanda Plan of Action, which sets out specific responsibilities, timelines and funding requirements for programmes aimed at addressing conflicts.

The Luanda Action Plan is a strategic framework that was considered and adopted at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the African Union Assembly on 30 August 2026.

It prioritises early warning systems and preventative diplomacy over reactive measures.

“What was more unique for this summit, or what has come out which has never happened before, is the Luanda Plan of Action,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.

She said the plan is different because it does not only identify what needs to be done, but also makes it clear who should do it, when implementation should start and what funding is required.

“There are even metrics which exactly say what should be done, who should do it, when it should start, and the money, if there’s money available, it’s mentioned how much,” she said.

According to the president, African programmes often fail to move beyond decisions because funding is not secured when decisions are taken.

“Many of our projects or programmes we do not implement because the decisions are taken when there’s no budget for it,” she said.

Nandi-Ndaitwah said the AU already has an Africa Peace Fund, but its resources are not enough to meet the continent’s growing peace and security needs.

“It’s not enough. And we have taken a decision that we cannot continue to allow Africa’s peace programmes to be only depending heavily on outside funding,” she said.

She said African countries must strengthen the fund by mobilising resources from within the continent, including contributions from the private sector.

“We have to strengthen our own peace fund. And to strengthen it, we must also try to look for resources within the country. And not just looking at governments. We also have to look at the private sectors that are working or operating in Africa to contribute,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.

Another important outcome of the summit was the need to strengthen Africa’s ability to respond quickly when warning signs of conflict emerge.

She said African countries sometimes see signs of an impending crisis but fail to act until the situation becomes difficult to control.

The continent must also strengthen its rapid response capabilities for situations where conflicts have already escalated, she noted.

Nandi-Ndaitwah said an agreement between the AU and regional economic communities would allow regional bodies to play a more active role when crises occur in their regions.

She pointed to SADC, which already has a standby force.

“Now that there is that memorandum, we will not just need to wait for Africa or the AU to tell us. We have to act based on that MOU that we have designed or agreed to sign,” she said.

The president’s comments are in line with the wider message delivered at the summit that Africa needs to move from identifying conflicts to preventing them before they escalate.

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