President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has called on African leaders to close ranks, defend multilateralism and assert the continent’s collective interests in a rapidly fragmenting global order.

She made the appeal during her maiden address to the African Union Assembly in Addis Ababa on Saturday at the 39th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly for newly elected African heads of state in Addis Ababa.

Nandi-Ndaitwah framed her debut speech around the growing fragmentation of the international order, escalating global conflicts, climate change, and mounting economic pressures facing developing nations.

“We are convening at a time of high global tension and fragmentation, escalating conflicts, deepening debt distress, and a growing climate crisis,” she said. Nandi-Ndaitwah warned that multilateralism is under siege. “Multilateralism, the very system meant to give a voice to all nations, big and small, is being attacked. Small states, especially from the global South, are asking hard questions about fairness, historical redress, and accountability within the international system,” she said. She reminded leaders that Africa’s founders met “at a moment of great uncertainty, but also of great possibility,” driven by struggles for dignity, freedom, and self-determination.

“Those winds were not gentle breezes. They were storms of struggle, sacrifice, and determination, carried by the hopes of millions,” she said.

Positioning Africa within today’s shifting geopolitical landscape, the President cautioned against allowing the continent to become a theatre for competing global interests.

“Through the AU Agenda 2063, we must firmly position Africa in a rapidly changing world, secure our economic independence, technological sovereignty, and control over our natural resources for the benefit of Africa’s people first,” she said, with particular emphasis on youth and women. “Africa must not be a battleground for competing interests; rather, it must be a partner of choice, guided by principles, mutual respect, and shared prosperity,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said. The Namibian President also linked climate change to the AU’s theme for the year, peace and stability, highlighting water scarcity as an emerging security concern across the continent. “We should work closely with one another, as water availability contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability on the continent,” she noted.

– ljason@nepc.com.na