NAIROBI, Kenya- President William Ruto has rejected pressure on African countries to align themselves with competing global powers, saying the continent wants equal partnerships rather than dependency.
Speaking during the Kenya-European Union Partnership for Multilateralism Summit in New York, President Ruto said countries should be free to cooperate without joining rigid geopolitical blocs.
“Africa seeks neither dependency nor alignment. We seek partnership,” Ruto said.
“Countries should not have to choose sides in order to cooperate. We cannot rebuild trust by speaking only with those who agree with us.”
The President addressed heads of state, European Council President António Costa and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres during the summit held on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly.
Ruto said international cooperation was under pressure because global institutions and regulations had failed to keep pace with changes in population, economic influence and geopolitical power.
“The crisis of multilateralism is not a crisis of cooperation. It is a crisis of rules and institutions that have not kept pace with the world they are expected to govern,” he said.
He renewed Kenya’s call for reforms to the UN Security Council, saying Africa should no longer be excluded from permanent representation in the body responsible for international peace and security.
“A continent of 54 countries and more than 1.4 billion people cannot remain at the margins of decisions central to global peace and security,” Ruto said.
He argued that the exclusion affected the legitimacy of international institutions and weakened public trust in their decisions.
The President also called for reforms to the international financial system, accusing existing rules of restricting the use of African savings for infrastructure and industrial development.
Ruto said Africa holds more than $4 trillion in domestic capital pools, including over $1 trillion in pension and life-insurance assets, but regulatory and investment rules prevent much of that money from financing power, transport and industrial projects.
He urged international financial institutions to use guarantees, affordable insurance and risk-sharing instruments to make African projects attractive to pension funds and other long-term investors.
“A dollar of international support that mobilises several dollars of African capital can achieve more than a dollar that simply substitutes for it,” he said.
Ruto also criticised the selective application of international law, saying territorial integrity, sovereign equality and the peaceful resolution of disputes must apply to all countries.
“International law cannot be a shield for some and a restraint for others,” he said.
The President maintained that the Kenya-EU initiative should strengthen rather than replace the United Nations, African Union and regional institutions.
He said developing countries must be allowed to participate in writing global rules instead of being invited only to endorse decisions made without them.
