Abstract
The multipolarisation of the international system and the rise of nations from the global South opened new avenues for Africa and increased its role in global politics. Power dynamics in a multipolar world put forward the concept of agency in the international relations discourse, yet, bounded in the African context. This chapter analyses Africa’s position in contemporary geopolitical and economic affairs, focusing on African agency and its role played in multilateral negotiations. It demonstrates an emergence of African agency in the multilateral fora in the domains of peace, security, climate change, and in shaping the global normative framework. The chapter examines the questions on how African agency interacts, cooperates and competes with superpowers in the multipolar global system from an intergovernmental and individual state level. It delves into the cases of the African Union and South Africa, as two main continental actors on exercising agency regionally and globally. In the examined cases, the agency is evaluated as the ability to act in order to change the outcomes or rules. The chapter concludes that African agency is an incontrovertible fact and its significance is increasing gradually. It has begun to assert its voice at different levels, from individual states to intergovernmental organizations but the structural organization of the relevant institutions is crucial to the process of exercising agency.
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Notes
- 1.
See, The Economist: Hopeless Africa at: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2000/05/11/hopeless-africa
- 2.
See, The Economist: Hopeful Africa at: https://www.economist.com/special-report/2013/03/02/a-hopeful-continent
- 3.
The concept date back to Cheikh Anta Diop’s book Towards the African Renaissance: Essays in Culture and Development, 1946–1960.
The concept has been further popularised by former South African President Thabo Mbeki meaning the right of African people to determine
their own future.
- 4.
See, 2015’s research from the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at:
- 5.
Nigeria, the largest economy in the continent did not join the agreement
- 6.
See, Agenda 2063 at: http://www.un.org/en/africa/osaa/pdf/au/agenda2063.pdf
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
See, EU Commission 2018 at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/south-africa/
- 10.
See, EU Commission 2018 at: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/regions/sadc/
- 11.
- 12.
See MIP at: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/node/96850
- 13.
- 14.
- 15.
See, The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/14/world/africa/zuma-south-africa-legacy.html;
The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/11684492/South-Africas-long-walk-to-decline.html;
fin24: https://www.fin24.com/BizNews/numbers-dont-lie-sa-moving-backwards-under-zumas-leadership-20160902-3
- 16.
Next Eleven is a term coined by Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs including countries that have the potential for attaining global
competitiveness based on their economic and demographic settings.
Further Readings
Alden, C., & Large, D. (2018). New directions in Africa-China studies. Abingdon: Routledge.
Brown, W., & Harman, S. (2013). African agency in international politics. Abingdon: Routledge.
Ebert, H., & Flemes, D. (2018). Regional powers and contested leadership. Cham: Palgrave Macmillian.
Robertson, C. (2012). The fastest billion: The story behind Africa’s economic revolution. London: Renaissance Capital.
Taylor, I. (2014). Africa rising? BRICS – Diversifying dependency. Woodbridge: James Currey.
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Lala, F. (2020). Africa in the Changing Global Order: Does African Agency Matter in Global Politics?. In: Hosli, M.O., Selleslaghs, J. (eds) The Changing Global Order. United Nations University Series on Regionalism, vol 17. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21603-0_7
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