The African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, also known as the “Pelindaba Treaty”, established the fourth nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) in the world. It opened for signature on 12 April 1996 in Cairo, Egypt, and entered into force on 15 July 2009.

Unique to the Treaty of Pelindaba, the Treaty includes provisions under which each Party commits to declare its capabilities for manufacturing nuclear explosive devices, dismantle and destroy any such devices it has previously produced, and either destroy or convert relevant manufacturing facilities for peaceful purposes. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Commission, which was established by the Treaty, will verify these processes. Furthermore, each Party pledges not to support or encourage any armed attacks against nuclear installations within the African nuclear-weapon-free zone.

The zone of application of the Treaty is limited to the States Parties territories (land, internal waters, territorial sea).

The Pelindaba Treaty prohibits the research, development, manufacture, stockpiling, acquisition, testing, possession, control, or stationing of nuclear weapons, as well as the dumping of radioactive wastes. The Treaty also prohibits any attack against nuclear installations in the zone by Treaty parties.

The Treaty requires all parties to apply full-scope International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards to all their peaceful nuclear activities.

For the purpose of ensuring compliance with their undertakings under this Treaty, the Parties agreed to establish the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE) with headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa. AFCONE, as the main executive body of the Pelindaba Treaty, is the African Union’s Specialised Agency for nuclear activities on the continent. AFCONE comprises 12 States Parties that serve for three-year terms and report to the Conference of States Parties. The Commission is responsible inter alia for:

(a) Collating reports and exchange of information,

(b) Arranging consultations, as well as convening conferences of Parties on the concurrence of a simple majority of States Parties on any matter arising from the implementation of the Treaty;

(c) Reviewing the application of peaceful nuclear activities in accordance with safeguards by IAEA;

(d) Bringing into effect the complaints procedure;

(e) Encouraging regional and sub-regional programmes on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology;

(f) Promoting international cooperation with extra-zonal States for the peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology.

The Treaty of Pelindaba includes three protocols. The first two concerns nuclear-weapon States, whereby they are called not to use or threaten to use a nuclear weapon against any Party to the Treaty and any territory as well as are called not to test or assist the testing of any nuclear weapon. The third protocol addresses the extra-continental States that are internationally responsible, whether de jure or de facto, for territory within the zone, and creates a binding commitment on those States to apply standards of military denuclearization to their respective zonal territories.

For the full text Treaty, see here.

Membership

The current States Parties to the Treaty are: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Chad, Comoros, Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The following African States have signed the Pelindaba Treaty: Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda. For information on accession dates, see here.