"African continent loses 18 billion dollars annually due to conflicts" - President of Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya

The President of Kenya, William Ruto, who is leading the efforts of institutional reforms within the African Union (AU), has said that the conflicts are causing Africa to lose its ability to develop.

Speaking at a special AU meeting held yesterday, January 27, 2025, in Nairobi, Ruto said the African continent loses 18 billion dollars every year due to conflicts, while millions of people become refugees.

According to Ruto, Africa has 35 million internal refugees, 8.9 million refugees outside their countries, and 1.1 million stateless people.

In addition, he revealed that between April and June 2024, Africa recorded 1,000 incidents of terrorism that resulted in the deaths of 4,818 people.

The meeting which brought together the presidents of Guinea-Bissau, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Comoros, together with the Chairman of AU Commission, Moussa Faki, aimed to discuss and accelerate reforms within the 55-member African Union.

President Ruto emphasized that the African Union cannot deal with the continent's challenges effectively, noting that there are weaknesses in the AU's participation in conflict resolution, lack of resources, and lack of unity.

He said that urgent measures are needed to develop new methods to bring peace and security in Africa, in order to achieve the development of the continent.