Dr Taiwo Afolabi, SIFAX Group Chairman, has called for greater investment in infrastructure, jobs and regional trade as part of international efforts to prevent conflict and strengthen peace across Africa.
Afolabi made the call in New York during the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Global Executive Roundtable on Diplomacy, Multilateralism and Conflict Resolution.
He argued that conflict prevention should go beyond diplomatic intervention after tensions have escalated, stressing the need to address economic conditions that can contribute to instability. “Peace creates the environment for investment, investment creates opportunity, and opportunity strengthens the foundations of peace.”
Afolabi said the world is confronting multiple pressures, including geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty, climate change, inequality and declining confidence in institutions.
According to him, these challenges require an approach that combines diplomacy and conflict resolution with sustainable economic development.
For Africa, he identified infrastructure deficits, limited access to finance, trade barriers and inadequate economic opportunities as constraints that continue to affect development.
He therefore called for investment to become a more prominent component of the continent’s peacebuilding agenda. “Africa’s peace building agenda must be accompanied by an investment agenda. We need investment in transport infrastructure, ports, energy, technology, manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, education and human capital.”
Afolabi also linked regional economic integration to peacebuilding, arguing that stronger commercial relationships can create shared interests among countries.
He said the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) would require more than trade agreements between governments to achieve its potential. “Trade and connectivity can create shared interests among nations. The success of AfCFTA depends not only on trade agreements but on infrastructure, efficient logistics, digital systems, financing and political cooperation.”
The AfCFTA seeks to establish a single market for goods and services across participating African countries. However, the ability of businesses to benefit from the agreement depends partly on how efficiently goods, services, capital and information can move across borders.
Better roads, ports, rail networks, reliable electricity, digital infrastructure and access to finance can help reduce some of the barriers to regional trade.
Afolabi said the private sector can contribute to economic cooperation by building connections between communities, markets and countries.
He pointed to SIFAX Group’s operations across maritime, logistics, aviation, financial services, oil and gas and hospitality as examples of how private investment can support economic connectivity.
He said infrastructure should not be viewed only as a commercial issue. “A functioning logistics system can connect farmers to markets, manufacturers to consumers, businesses to international value chains and countries to one another.”
According to him, these connections can create stronger economic interests that encourage cooperation and make infrastructure investment part of a broader peacebuilding strategy.
Afolabi’s argument places economic opportunity alongside diplomacy as part of efforts to address conditions that can contribute to instability.
Investment, however, is not a standalone solution to conflict. Political disputes, governance challenges, security concerns and social tensions can have multiple causes and may require diplomatic, institutional and security responses.
His comments come as African governments continue to pursue greater regional economic integration while grappling with infrastructure financing gaps, industrialisation challenges, trade logistics and limited access to markets.
For Africa, the argument underscores the link between economic connectivity and development: stronger infrastructure and greater access to economic opportunities can support trade while creating conditions for deeper cooperation among countries.
