President John Dramani Mahama has proposed a major restructuring of the United Nations Security Council to give Africa five permanent seats, saying the arrangement would provide the continent with a fairer voice in decisions on global peace and security.

Under the proposal, each of Africa’s five geographical regions would have a permanent representative on the Council, giving the continent a collective presence that reflects its regional diversity.

President Mahama made the proposal in an exclusive interview with TRT World in which he advocated reforms to the UN system and urged African countries to develop a common position on the restructuring of the Security Council.

He said allocating five permanent seats to Africa would be a more appropriate arrangement than granting the continent only one or two positions.

“I think it would have been best if we got five seats, because Africa has five regions. And so each region would have representation,” he said.

President Mahama, however, cautioned against combining the demand for additional permanent seats with an immediate push to reform the veto powers enjoyed by the current permanent members of the Security Council.

He argued that Africa's immediate priority should be to build broad international support for an expanded Council and secure better representation before opening negotiations on the more contentious question of veto rights.

In his view, attempting to resolve both issues simultaneously could complicate negotiations with the existing permanent members.

“We need a two-step solution. And so we should speak with one voice and ask for an expansion of the Security Council. Once we expand the Security Council and we have better representation of the Security Council, then we can discuss the veto,” he said.

The President said a united African position would be critical to advancing the continent's interests in any negotiations on UN reform.

He maintained that African countries could work towards an agreement on which states should represent the continent if the proposal for five permanent seats gains international backing.

The call comes amid longstanding concerns over what many African leaders regard as the continent's inadequate representation in the UN's highest decision-making body, despite Africa's significant role in the organisation's peace and security agenda.

President Mahama's proposal would, therefore, shift the debate from whether Africa should have a permanent presence on the Security Council to how broad and representative that presence should be.