UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon advised Africa's leaders to work closely with other nations if they want to achieve their goal of a permanent place on the UN Security Council.

On a visit to Gabon's capital Libreville, Ban -- who acknowledged that Africans have "a strong aspiration... to be properly represented" -- said the issue of Security Council reform is under discussion among UN member states.

"I sincerely hope that African leaders will closely coordinate with other member states so that these Security Council reform measures can be adopted by the member states as soon as possible," he added.

Three of the 10 non-permanent seats at the Security Council are filled by African nations -- currently Uganda, Gabon and Nigeria -- but there has long been talk of a veto-wielding permanent seat for the continent.

The speaker of Gabon's national assembly, Guy Nzouba-Ndama, raised the issue with Ban earlier on Thursday, warned that a failure to "democratise the United Nations system" was liable to stoke "frustration" among Africans.