On 14 August 2026, in Cotonou, civil society organizations from West, Central, North and East Africa launched a drive in support of President Macky Sall's candidacy for the office of UN Secretary-General. Mr Cyrille Nguiegang is coordinating the effort.
A citizens' relay for the candidacy. The support of states now has a civic counterpart, voiced by networks rooted in four regions of the continent. The meeting was held under one watchword: African leadership in the service of peace, of multilateralism and of the community.
Forty-one African states. The support gathered in Cotonou extends that of governments. Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania recently joined the countries in favour, bringing to forty-one the number of African states backing the candidacy. The African Union had expressed its firm support on 26 March 2026, at the end of a silence procedure.
Umaro Sissoco Embaló's phrase. The former President of Guinea-Bissau stated that President Macky Sall's candidacy "is that of all Africa." In Cotonou, that phrase found a footing beyond the institutions, among the organizations that work closest to the people.
The Cotonou watchword and the filed vision. The call made in Cotonou meets one of the axes of the vision statement filed with the United Nations: making Africa's voice heard in global governance. The vision pairs it with a peace conceived with development and with a renewed multilateralism.
Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.
The Cotonou meeting was reported by the African press on 14 August 2026. Read all public positions at www.mackysall.net