This policy insight examines the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW, also known as the Ban Treaty) from an African perspective. It provides a historical overview of the role of nuclear weapons on the continent, and discusses the compatibility of the Ban Treaty and the continent’s own African Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Pelindaba Treaty), with specific reference to the role and pronouncements made by the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE), the agency responsible for its implementation. It concludes that the normative congruence between the Pelindaba Treaty and the Ban Treaty is clear and that all African states need to sign and ratify both instruments.
