Lamin J. Sise was former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's advisor and executive assistant for 10 years, resolving disputes around the world. The Gambian whose three decades at the UN took him to 87 countries and 66 heads of government talks to ChinAfrica about the major issues in Africa today and China's role as a friend:

ChinAfrica: What are the major conflicts in Africa today?

Lamin J. Sise: Africa is not unique among continents in terms of conflicts being around. I don't think any continent is conflict-free. We do have a bit more perhaps than one would want at the moment - South Sudan, Central African Republic, north Nigeria [where] the Boko Haram is operating at the moment, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and of course the recent tragic and catastrophic epidemic of Ebola in three West African countries  - Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Then came in Burkina Faso that was relatively stable until the crisis that erupted when President [Blaise Compaore] wanted to change the laws to continue in office. This triggered massive demonstrations. The people wanted democracy. These are some of the flashpoints in the region. 

How to resolve them?

One would have to understand first the context in which these crises have come up. Africa had a long period of colonial rule. The transition from that system to a new dispensation is never going to be easy. Changing from one political system to another does involve a bit of instability until things settle down and the new system is allowed to consolidate.

How do you take care of these issues? By developing strong institutions within the context of the countries' own political experience that deal with the legislative part of their own system, the executive, and the judiciary. Rule of law must be at the heart of these things. It doesn't matter which part of the world you are coming from, certain basics must be there.

The other fundamental thing is stability. You can't develop when instability is around for a long time. You got to have a stable environment which would allow resolution of problems and development of [these] institutions.

If you don't have strong institutions but strong men you are going to have a problem [of rulers clinging on to power]. This happened for quite a number of years in several countries but things are beginning to change. In Senegal, there was a problem when [former] President [Abdoulaye Wade] wanted to change the constitution. The people wouldn't take it. He rescinded his proposal and, when they went to elections, lost and left. If you develop the right institutions and they have hopefully the right people, that kind of phenomenon on the continent will not go on. People will not take it. They are not going to sit quietly and let some people stay on in power for ever and ever. 

How would conflicts in Africa impact global stability and economy?

Stability is a sine qua non for development. If you have a stable country you are going to have investments, partners who would want to be involved in the development. Nobody goes out to invest in a bad neighborhood. If you don't have a stable environment how can you expand international trade? The consequence of a stable environment is all these benefits. The consequences of instability are holding them back from all this development.

We all need each other. The world is a global village. I am not sure we can progress with any region left behind. The difficulties that occur in that region could spill into other regions. A developed Africa, and a positive situation in Africa can have a great impact on the world. 

What has China's role been in mediating in conflicts and tackling the Ebola crisis?

China's own policy of non-interference perhaps would make them less of a visible player on the scene when it comes to internal conflicts. I suspect they would be encouraging from behind the scene resolution of conflicts in order to have a stable situation that would allow development to progress. Any effort to try to resolve a problem by friends of Africa would be a welcome development.

China has always been regarded as a friend, a partner. China was a developing country but has gone beyond that. One would hope that China would not forget its friendship with developing countries as it progresses and develops a partnership with these countries to help them also develop and progress. China cooperated with the African Union (AU), helping it consolidate its infrastructure in Addis Ababa.

The Ebola crisis is a challenge for everybody. Reaction from the international community has been relatively slow. At the beginning, the reaction within the countries themselves was slow because they did not know the magnitude. Ebola had not surfaced in that part of Africa earlier on. But when it erupted and the magnitude of the devastation started coming out, China was one of the countries to respond quickly. We have all seen planeloads of supplies being sent to Sierra Leone; medical teams have also been sent. The situation is perhaps improving now but it would require the involvement of everybody.

I do know that efforts are going on in several parts of the world [including China] to develop an Ebola vaccine. That would help enormously. The idea of attacking [the epidemic] at the source is a very good one. 

How do you see the AU?

It is an umbrella institution that has great potential in promoting the development of the continent. It is not the government, it is an institution comprising governments of the region, so the limitations of an international organization does affect the AU as well. It can get only the powers given to it by the member states. It has great potential in harmonizing the policies and activities of its member governments.

There are instances where it can be very helpful. You have a conflict situation and peacekeeping operations need to be deployed. An AU rapid deployment mechanism can be very helpful before the UN Security Council decides on a longer-term peacekeeping operation in the area.

The European Union started as a regional integration entity. Then the member states through various treaties started transferring lots of powers and functions from their capitals to the entity in Brussels. The AU is not quite that yet. Will it become that? We will have to wait and see. 

What was the most severe crisis in your career?

A major and challenging one was the post-electoral crisis in Kenya in 2007-08 when the presidential elections resulted in a stalemate. The crisis saw massive violence with about 1,300 people killed, 600,000 internally displaced. The economy was badly affected. The sub-region was also affected. Kenya is a hub of economic activities in East Africa. If there is a difficult situation in Kenya, it is likely to affect the sub-region. The AU appointed a panel of eminent persons - Kofi Annan, Benjamin Mkapa (former President of Tanzania), and Graca Machel - to mediate. They got in, quickly addressed the issue and stopped the violence. What was important was that they wanted also to address the underlying issues that brought about this crisis. The end result was reform of the system and the crown jewel, in my view, was the adoption of a very progressive constitution. 

Is the 21st century the African century?

The African century, the rise of the African giant... there's a bit of hyperbole in some of these things. What is important is to stay on track on development, conflict resolution, strengthening various sectors - education, health, agriculture, trade and investment. If we do it then Africa would be playing its rightful part in international relations. You do have examples of rapidly growing economies - South Africa, Botswana, Angola, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Senegal... These are countries that are growing very rapidly. Would they collectively then become the example of the rise of the African giant? That's something we should strive for.