As a “continent of the future” Africa deserves full participation, the president of the Republic of Congo has said The United Nations Security Council must become more representative and transparent, President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo has said, during his address to the 80th UN General Assembly on Wednesday.Africa, Sassou Nguesso argued, should receive permanent seats as a matter of legitimate partnership, citing the continent’s population of over 1.4 billion and its growing role in global affairs. “It is a continent of the future, youth, potential to which we must now guarantee full participation in global decisions,” he added.“We can see it, the Security Council, in its current composition, no longer reflects the geopolitical balance of our world. It is therefore urgent to reform it, not in theory, but in practice,” he said. Kenyan President William Ruto echoed the call, pressing for at least two permanent African seats with veto power and two additional non-permanent seats. “Reforming the Security Council is not a favor to Africa or to anybody. It is a necessity for the United Nations’ own survival,” he stressed. The day before South African President Cyril Ramaphosa criticized the Council for failing to uphold international law, citing crises in Gaza, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “The UN Security Council has proven to be ineffective in its current form and composition in carrying out its Charter mandate to maintain international peace and security,” he said, warning that continued violations of international law erode its authority.“We must invigorate the negotiations on Security Council reform at the Inter-Governmental Negotiations in the General Assembly,” Ramaphosa added.The calls for reform from African leaders were reinforced last week at the 7th Summit of the African Union Committee of Ten (C10) Heads of State and Government in New York. Speaking at the meeting, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said that Moscow supports expanding the UN Security Council to include more countries from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Africa’s current non-permanent members of the Council are Algeria, Sierra Leone, and Somalia.