Guterres highlights Africa’s leadership in speech to summit in Nairobi

The UN chief was speaking at the opening of the Africa Forward Summit, co-hosted in Nairobi by Kenyan President William Ruto and French President Emmanuel Macron.

“ The name of this Summit captures the moment – and the mission, ” he said . “ Africa is not waiting. Africa is moving. Africa is leading. ”

Driving debate, finding solutions

Mr. Guterres highlighted how Africa is driving the debate around reforming global financial institutions that were “designed in 1945 for a world that no longer exists.”

He credited the continent’s leading role in other areas, including getting the Pact for the Future approved, building new tools for debt negotiations, and challenging credit ratings systems.

African leadership also helped to secure the Sevilla Commitment on expanding lending by multilateral development banks, and alongside small island States, put the climate emergency “at the centre of the global agenda,” he added.

“ This is not a…