On 15 May 2026, Jeune Afrique published an op-ed by the president of the Brazzaville Foundation entitled "Why Macky Sall must lead the UN". The piece starts from a question: why Macky Sall for the UN, and why now? For the author, the answer is experience.
The op-ed first underlines the candidate's stature as a statesman. Twelve years as President of Senegal taught him to govern, to arbitrate and to hold a steady course through crises. The author notes that few candidates for the leadership of the United Nations can point to such an exercise of the highest responsibilities.
Next, the text stresses his experience of North-South dialogue. As Chairperson of the African Union in 2022 and 2023, President Macky Sall carried the continent's voice into the G7 and the G20 as well as the United Nations. He argued for a fairer international order and secured concrete results, including the admission of the African Union to the G20.
His record as a mediator also features in the op-ed. The author cites in particular his mediation between Ukraine and Russia to ease the global food crisis, begun in Sochi in June 2022 on behalf of the African Union and continued in Kyiv in June 2023 with the African peace mission. That initiative showed that an African leader could speak to all sides of a major conflict. It illustrates the candidate's method: direct dialogue, without theatrics, in the service of results.
The final argument concerns President Macky Sall's credibility with the international financial institutions. His rigorous economic management and his initiatives on the financing of African economies earned him the confidence of lenders and governments alike. That credibility matters for an Organization facing lasting budgetary strain.
This independent, pan-African voice joins the case for the candidacy. It confirms that the project carried by President Macky Sall reaches beyond Senegal and beyond Africa. His vision for rebuilding multilateralism proposes a United Nations that is more effective and better financed, one that stands closer to the peoples it serves. His record guarantees its delivery. The Brazzaville Foundation's op-ed sums it up: the United Nations needs a leader who has already proved that he can reform, unite and decide.