South Africa as the host country for the Headquarters of the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE), will in future play a key role in ensuring a nuclear-weapons-free world.

The role AFCONE would play on the global stage when it comes to nuclear issues, includes advancing the global nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation efforts,” said African Union Commission Chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zulu.

Speaking during a meeting with South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooporation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane on Wednesday, she said the AFCONE would play a key role in supporting sustainable development on the continent, notably in “supporting key Agenda 2063 priority areas.”

These priority areas include infrastructure, health, agriculture, industrialisation and energy among others.

Dlamini-Zuma and Nkoana-Mashabane signed the Host Country Agreement at the AUC Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The agreement will see South Africa host the AFCONE.

Dlamini-Zuma said the agreement would enable AFCONE to “fully and effectively implement the mandate of the African nuclear-Weapons-Free-Zone Treaty.”

Known as the Treaty of Pelindaba, it was signed in Cairo, Egypt, on April 11, 1996 and effected on July 15, 2009. It prohibits the development, manufacture, stockpiling, acquisition, testing, possession, control or stationing of nuclear explosive devices and any attacks against nuclear installations within the Zone.

Nkoana-Mashabane said the agreement would enable South Africa to make a “significant contribution towards the ultimate goal of achieving a world in which nuclear weapons no longer exist.”