Nigeria has asked the African Union to formally address recurring attacks against African nationals in South Africa, after the issue was not made a central focus of the bloc’s just-concluded summit in Angola, which was largely devoted to conflict prevention, peace and security across the continent.
President Bola Tinubu made the request at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the African Union Assembly in Luanda on August 30, calling for the issue to be placed on the agenda of the AU’s 40th Ordinary Session scheduled for January 2027.
Tinubu’s position was delivered by Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented the Nigerian president at the summit.
“Nigeria wishes to express its concern over the recurring xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks against Africans and other nationals in South Africa,” Shettima told the Assembly.
“While recognising South Africa’s sovereign right to enforce its immigration laws and acknowledging its contributions to the continent, Nigeria stresses that such attacks undermine African solidarity, unity and peaceful coexistence, and require urgent collective attention.
“It is on this note that Nigeria calls on this august Assembly to place the matter on the agenda of the upcoming 40th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly, scheduled for January 2027, for consideration and appropriate action,” he said.
Safety and dignity
Nigeria urged African leaders to reaffirm their commitment to protecting the safety, dignity and rights of African nationals across the continent.
The request came as African heads of state and government gathered in Luanda primarily to assess the continent’s mechanisms for preventing and resolving conflicts.
Addressing the summit, African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf pointed to continuing crises in Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, the Sahel, Libya, northern Mozambique and Madagascar.
The summit concluded with the adoption of the Luanda Action Plan, which says it seeks to strengthen conflict prevention and response, alongside renewed calls for African countries to take greater financial and political ownership of the continent’s peace and security agenda.
“Prevention must become our priority. We need a strengthened continental early-warning system, more effective implementation of AU decisions, sustainable financing for peace operations and a fully operational Peace Fund,” Youssouf said.
The Luanda Declaration, read by AU Chairperson and Burundi President Évariste Ndayishimiye, urged member states to move beyond political declarations and translate their peace and security commitments into measurable action.
