African Leaders and Development Partners Urge Greater Investment in Conflict Prevention

Leaders from across Africa, together with international development financiers and aid agencies, have made a powerful appeal for greater investment in conflict prevention and local peacebuilding as the continent faces a rising tide of insecurity and economic fragility.

The call came at the opening of the Africa Resilience Forum (ARF), hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where participants emphasized that over 250 million people in Africa now live in countries directly affected by conflict.

The forum, convening policymakers, humanitarian actors, and private sector leaders, focused on shifting the continent’s approach from crisis response to long-term prevention — a shift many speakers described as both a moral and economic necessity.

Investing in Peace as Smart Economics

“Conflict prevention is not only a moral imperative, it makes economic sense—because for every dollar invested, we can gain over $100 in long-term savings,” said Ms. Nnenna Nwabufo, AfDB Group Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, who moderated the session titled “Partnering for Conflict Prevention.”

Nwabufo underscored the Bank’s growing portfolio of fragility-sensitive investments across the continent, which aim to address the root causes of instability—such as poverty, inequality, and exclusion—before they escalate into crises.

She noted that the AfDB’s Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience in Africa (2022–2026) identifies governance, climate adaptation, and private sector engagement as key levers for peacebuilding. “Prevention is a shared responsibility,” she said. “We must combine resources, political will, and local capacity to address the underlying drivers of fragility.”

Communities at the Heart of Peacebuilding

Panelists from various countries and institutions shared strategies on empowering local actors as the cornerstone of sustainable peace.

Abubakar Umar Alhassan, representing Ghana’s National Peace Council, stressed that communities themselves often hold the solutions to conflicts. “Durable peace requires letting communities lead,” he said. “Women and youth groups in most cases hold the key to resolving conflicts and sustaining peace. Their engagement must not be symbolic — it must be structural.”

In Ghana, local peace committees have been central to addressing tensions in border regions and ethnic enclaves, providing a model for other countries seeking to integrate traditional mediation systems into national peace frameworks.

From Mauritania, Mohamed Abderahmane Deddi, Director General at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, called for a reorientation of international aid priorities, pointing out that less than 4 percent of global development assistance to Africa currently goes toward conflict prevention.

“We must rethink how we use aid,” he said. “Support should go to prevention and resilience, not just emergency response. Our government is adopting national strategies for peace and social cohesion, but we need consistent international support to sustain them.”

Building Synergy Between Humanitarian and Development Partners

Olivier Ray, Director for Mobilisation, Movement and Partnerships at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), highlighted the challenges of maintaining both state and development presence in fragile areas where violence disrupts essential services.

“The real test is to stay engaged,” Ray said. “We must ensure that health, water, and education systems continue functioning even amid conflict. That requires partnerships that bridge humanitarian relief with long-term development.”

He announced that the AfDB and the ICRC are preparing to release a joint policy brief in early October, capturing lessons from a decade of collaboration in fragile contexts, including projects in Sudan, where both organizations have supported community-based livelihoods despite ongoing conflict.

Global Development Banks Bring New Perspectives

Representatives from global financial institutions emphasized the need for innovative financing that strengthens local resilience while enabling communities to rebuild after crises.

Asari Efiong, Head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) office in Côte d’Ivoire, noted that although the Bank is relatively new to sub-Saharan Africa, its experience in post-conflict regions offers valuable insights.

“Fragility and resilience are part of our DNA,” Efiong said. “Our roots go back to a disintegrating Soviet Union three decades ago. We’ve seen first-hand how financial systems can help stabilize societies and create jobs during periods of turmoil.”

She drew parallels between EBRD’s work in Ukraine and fragile contexts in Africa, pointing out that in just the past three years, the Bank—Ukraine’s largest institutional investor—has invested $8.4 billion and mobilized $1.6 billion in donor grants, with 85 percent of funded projects directed to the private sector.

“Our work has focused on tackling workforce volatility caused by displacement and conflict, while supporting the reintegration of veterans into the economy,” Efiong said. “There are many lessons from Ukraine that can inform how we address fragility elsewhere — from supporting small businesses to restoring essential services and rebuilding trust.”

Local Solutions for Continental Challenges

Speakers agreed that the next generation of peacebuilding in Africa must be locally driven, gender-responsive, and economically grounded.

From the Sahel to the Horn of Africa, conflict and climate shocks have uprooted millions and strained state institutions. Yet, participants noted that local peace committees, women-led cooperatives, and community enterprises have demonstrated remarkable resilience in the face of adversity.

AfDB officials stressed that investing in such grassroots initiatives—through **microfinance, social entrepreneurship, and education—**offers the most effective route to preventing instability before it erupts.

“The cost of responding to conflict far outweighs the cost of preventing it,” said one participant from the African Union Commission. “We must move beyond the logic of reacting to crises and start financing peace as a long-term development goal.”

A Shared Vision for a Resilient Africa

The Africa Resilience Forum, now in its fifth edition, serves as a flagship platform for dialogue and partnership-building among governments, international institutions, civil society, and the private sector. This year’s theme — “Financing Peace and Resilience in a Changing Africa” — reflects growing consensus that the continent’s security, economic, and social challenges are deeply interconnected.

The AfDB’s Vice President Nnenna Nwabufo concluded the opening session with a call for renewed collaboration: “Resilience begins with people. When we invest in communities, we invest in stability. When we empower youth and women, we build the foundation for peace.”

As the Forum continues, participants are expected to discuss financing mechanisms for fragile states, climate adaptation in conflict zones, and the role of the private sector in fostering peace and resilience.

The outcomes will feed into the AfDB’s Resilience Agenda for Africa (2026–2030), aimed at mobilizing more resources for conflict prevention, social cohesion, and economic recovery.