AU, UN leaders condemn external interferences in Africa's security crisis

African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that external interference was fueling conflicts across Africa through the flow of weapons, funding and political support.

The two leaders spoke during a joint press conference at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa after signing a new declaration aimed at strengthening cooperation between the AU and the UN.

"Most of the security crises on the continent are fueled from abroad. Financial resources, ammunition, and sometimes even fighters come from other continents to fuel wars in Africa," Youssouf said.

He said foreign interference was disrupting mediation and peace efforts, posing a major challenge to resolving conflicts in the Sahel, Sudan, the Horn of Africa and eastern DR Congo.

Youssouf said the growing involvement of outside actors was forcing the AU, the UN and their partners to step up efforts to contain the crises.

"The AU must lead peace negotiations on the continent, based on the principle of African solutions to African conflicts," he said.

Guterres said it was "absolutely intolerable" for countries outside Africa to interfere in conflicts on the continent by supplying weapons and political support to advance strategic or economic interests.

"We need naturally to go on developing our common diplomacy, to make sure that we create the conditions for this kind of interference to cease and for other actors to reach political agreements that can end these conflicts," the UN chief said.

Guterres also warned of a changing nature of warfare, saying conflicts were increasingly marked by drone attacks targeting civilians rather than direct fighting between armies.

"We also raise our voices, denouncing those countries that are providing drones that are not manufactured in Africa, as they are causing immense suffering for African people," he added.