At this year’s annual conference of the project Megatrends Afrika, one key question guided the discussions: How do African states navigate and shape their agency in an increasingly multipolar world? Over 70 participants of policy, academia and practice from Africa and Europe exchanged views on new forms of cooperation, responsibility and shared interests in a changing global order.
The conference took place on 7 September in Berlin. Different panel discussions and breakout sessions dealt with the opportunities and challenges that emerge from a multipolar world order for cooperation for conflict resolution, infrastructure provision, supply of critical raw materials, democracy promotion and the development cooperation system more broadly.
The panels showed that African actors are leveraging global competition to expand their agency, yet structural limits persist. Agency implies navigating complex trade-offs between domestic political interests, economic constraints, geopolitical competition, and global cooperation in a rapidly changing environment. The external partners that remain most relevant could be those that are able to respond flexibly to African priorities, thereby helping African countries carry out their agendas and at the same time focusing on long-term rather than short-term geopolitical positioning.
While Europe is often viewed critically, its value model and the example of European integration continue to attract attention and recognition across the continent. Democracy, human rights and local ownership remain vital for a future-oriented Africa-Europe partnership. Yet, standing up for these values requires an honest engagement with Europe’s colonial past and present inconsistencies in its foreign policy practice. The development cooperation system must adapt to these new realities, rethinking its legitimacy and effectiveness.
The new Megatrends Afrika working paper offers an in-depth analysis of these topics:
https://lnkd.in/eiK5AAzw
Megatrends Afrika is a joint initiative by the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Kiel Institute for the World Economy, and Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), funded by the Auswärtiges Amt (Federal Foreign Office) Germany, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and the German Federal Ministry of Defence | Bundesministerium der Verteidigung.
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