On Sept. 18-19, the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly took place in New York.

At the heart of the debates, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), whose agenda, launched in 2015, has been revisited to give it the momentum necessary for its achievement by 2030. A theme that is even more relevant since, stuck halfway, the objectives seem to be struggling due to the multiple and multifaceted crises affecting the world. If the figures are to be believed, to date, only 15% of these SDGs are on track, while some are not stalling, and others are regressing. This shows the serious threat of failure that hangs over these development goals, which, beyond the reduction of poverty and inequalities in the world, aimed to accelerate economic prosperity and social well-being with a concern for protecting people and the environment.

The absence of other leaders outside of the five countries holding the veto does not fail to raise questions.

How should one perceive it when we know that the investment of the great powers for the success of such programs does not always live up to the promised funding? Or how should one perceive it when, downstream, the countries benefiting from this external support do not always shine through transparent and exemplary governance in managing the allocated funds?

Better say that this high-level meeting in New York, which welcomed no less than 145 heads of state and government for its 78th U.N. General Assembly with the main objective of redressing the bar to save what can still be saved from these SDGs, could not have experienced a worse time. No wonder those present did not miss the opportunity to tell each other a few half-truths. In this article, we are interested in the really appreciated speeches of some of the African representatives at this gathering, as they had a particularly unusual and, therefore, outstanding tone.

Pan-Africanist speeches: Sincere for some, populist for others

Robert Dussey, the Togolese minister of foreign affairs, delivered a speech in which he addressed the topics of terrorism, climate change, socio-political crises and current political transitions in Africa. He called on West African leaders to invest in peace rather than war. Dussey called on the powers to respect the African continent and demanded a reform of the U.N. Security Council for Africa’s permanent presence.

In the same speech, he reaffirmed without measure that the current world is profoundly sick, and its state of pathology calls for a level of responsibility as high as the United Nations.

Regarding the relations with the African continent, the Togolese representative invited Western and other powers to change their attitude and approach in Africa, which has profoundly changed: "Africa needs a partnership that respects the strict dignity of each person. We want to be your partners, not your subjects. We want to serve our people and not serve foreign interests," he insisted.

For Dussey, "This new dynamic is not directed against anyone" but remains "the expression of a new Africa ... one that wants to be free, sovereign, independent, master of itself."

This recalls his speech last year at the U.N. General Assembly. While stressing that today’s Africa is no longer that of the 1945s nor that of the 1960s, he observed that, "There is a challenge of changing mentality and behavior among our partners who each come, without exception, to Africa, with agendas dictated above all by their own interests." Therefore, he suggested that "Africa expects more equality, respect, equity and justice in its relations and partnerships with the rest of the world, with the great powers whoever they may be" and pleaded for dialogue among Africa and its counterparts, as the lack of dialogue makes any partnership nonsense.

He even went as far as accusing the Western world of paternalism, condescension and arrogance. This also recalls another speech of the king, performed by a man who was expected exactly because of what he had to say.

The president of the Guinean transition, Mamadi Doumbouya, gave a speech that was largely anti-Western and favorable to a free Africa in his choices.

Asserting that "Africa suffers from a model of governance that has been imposed on us, a model certainly good and effective for the West which designed it throughout its history, but which has difficulty in moving on and adapting to our reality," the killer of Alpha Condé, therefore, served his audience with a pan-Africanist speech in which he declared to the West that "Daddy’s Africa" is over.

Taking offense at what he describes as the paternalistic discourse of Western powers on Africa, he assures that the populations of the continent are now determined to take their destiny into their own hands for their development. For him, the classifications according to which Africa is under the influence of the Americans, sometimes under that of the English, the French, the Chinese, the Russians and the Turkish, are pointless. He defended that, "We are neither pro nor anti-Americans, neither pro nor anti-Chinese, neither pro nor anti-French, neither pro nor anti-Russians nor pro nor anti-Turks," but simply pro-Africans.

Words must give way to actions

Even if it seems to be over, the time of great tribunes of the kind of Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi, the Burkinabe Thomas Sankara, who, in the wake of other leaders of developing countries such as the Cuban Fidel Castro or the Venezuelan Hugo Chavez, has marked the history of these U.N. forums with interventions that will remain in the annals of the world organization forever. But, beyond the recurring speeches and diatribes at the U.N., it is up to Africa to find the path to its own development. This is a situation that calls for a paradigm shift in governance, but also in the relationships of African leaders who power the resurgence of coups d'état and the return of exceptional regimes, which confirms the decline of democracy on the continent.

If we are to go back to the speeches mentioned earlier, I would say that it only takes a little research to understand the paternalism, contempt, condescension and arrogance of the Western world. How can we expect some respect from people who intervene in almost all areas of governance in our countries? In other words, we don’t get respect because we keep begging for something.

The paternalism, contempt, condescension and arrogance will only end if we roll up our sleeves and get to work seriously, fighting against this gangrene called corruption.

In any case, between the fights against poverty and hunger, for quality education, for gender equality, for issues of health and well-being, water and sanitation, among others, the SDG promises to be a major challenge aiming to be a full-scale test of international solidarity, and which recommends redoubled efforts to find innovative solutions aimed at changing the current negative trajectory of these SDGs.