Charting Africa’s Path to Security and Sovereignty: Insights from the Tana High-Level Forum

The Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa is an annual event convening African leaders to discuss and develop African-led security solutions. 

The closing high-level panel of this year, titled Charting Africa’s Geopolitical and Economic Future, synthesized discussions on sovereignty, technology, trade integration, and institutional leadership. 

Moderated by Michelle Ndiaye, the session presented actionable insights from Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Hailemariam Dessalegn, and Kaire Mbuende. 

According to Mbuende, director-general of the Namibia National Planning Commission, economic sovereignty necessitates control over resources and raw materials to benefit societies across the continent. 

Mbuende emphasized that internal capacity, achieved through resource mobilization and development financing, is a fundamental instrument of economic sovereignty in Africa. 

Given the higher costs associated with external borrowing, Africa should prioritize internal alternatives. 

Hailemariam Dessalegn, former prime minister of Ethiopia, stated, "We need to focus on the essential role of accelerated integration due to shifting conflict and geopolitical dynamics in Africa." 

Dessalegn underscored that robust leadership is essential for regional integration. Although there is widespread political will to sign treaties, including the landmark AfCFTA, a significant implementation gap persists.

"Technology and industrialization are an integral part of economic sovereignty in Africa," stated Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, former president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

Jonathan advocated for a renewed focus on Africa's indigenous technologies rather than reliance on imported technological production. 

Abdel Fatau Musah, former commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security at ECOWAS, proposed several policy options: reducing the cost of business registration, promoting the removal of non-tariff barriers across the continent, advancing stable currencies through cashless economies, and maximizing the positive contributions of informal traders rather than criminalizing informal economic activities. 

Musah emphasized that the free movement of people, cross-border trade, and infrastructure development are critical for regional integration and progress in Africa. Strengthening ties between landlocked and coastal West African states and integrating AES states with ECOWAS’ Integrated Maritime Security framework are essential for regional stability. 

During Session III, ICRC Regional Director for Africa Mamadou Sow identified three priorities regarding illicit economies: controlling weapons across porous borders, preventing arms from reaching unauthorized actors, and ensuring all warring parties strictly adhere to international humanitarian law.

Africa accounts for 40 percent of the world's 130 conflicts, and non-state armed groups on the continent control territories encompassing 110 million people, according to Sow, who presented these findings for consideration by the African Union and humanitarian agencies. 

The Islamic State remains the primary security challenge in Africa, with 79 percent of IS attacks globally in the past 11 months occurring on the continent, representing a 49 percent increase from the previous year. 

Selma Malika Haddadi, deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission, emphasized the need to engage academics and scholars to accurately assess institutional challenges. 

She argued that, without a more effective division of labor and real-time diplomacy involving civil society, non-state actors, and communities, African institutions will continue to face challenges from partners whose objectives may not align with Africa’s needs. 

Hanna Tetteh, special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, questioned whether African interests have been sufficiently defined to prevent undermining institutional objectives through interest-based partnerships. 

Maureen Achieng, permanent representative of IGAD to the African Union, stressed the importance of narrative ownership, noting that technological control over data shapes the narrative. 

She asserted that Africa must drive its own narrative, which is only possible through data ownership. Africa imports 85 percent of its food, a situation resulting from deliberate policy choices. The absence of food sovereignty directly correlates with a lack of monetary sovereignty.

Fadhel Kaboub, associate professor of economics at Denison University and president of the Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity, identified energy deficiency and a lack of basic manufacturing as critical challenges. 

Africa possesses the youngest labor force globally and, by the end of the century, is projected to become a market of 4 billion people. 

However, the continent urgently requires access to manufacturing technology.

Redge Nkosi, executive director of the African Heterodox Economics Network, warned that inadequate macroeconomic development will lead to insecurity. 

The Tana Forum’s high-level panel, “From the Margins to the Center: Building an African Model for Peace and Sovereignty in an Age of Geopolitical Rivalry,” convened leaders from Burundi, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, and Sierra Leone to address these issues. 

Former Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma associated autonomy with the capacity to fund institutions, safeguard resources, and process them locally. Prof. Said Ali Hamad Vuai stated, “With over 80 percent of the research funding coming from outside the African continent, autonomy over our research agenda is next to impossible."