African Agency Towards Global Powers: A View from Regional Economic Blocs

Authors

Bob Wekesa; Kabaso Kabwe; Job Allan Wefwafwa; Nizar Messari Al Akhawayn; Kebapetse Lotshwao; Gabriel Acaye; Achilleus Romward; Gabriel Cyrille Nguijol
DOI: https://doi.org/10.35293/esi.66

Keywords:

Regional Economic Communities, African Agency, African Development

Synopsis

African Agency Towards Global Powers: A View Regional Economic Blocs is part of the University of the Witwatersrand’s African Agency Towards Global Powers project, supported by the Open Society Foundations. It turns the spotlight on Africa’s regional economic communities (RECs), which often fall through the cracks in analyses that focus on global power engagement at the continental and national levels. The book examines how the continent’s various RECs engage with the United States, the European Union, China, India, Russia, the Middle East and other global powers. Drawing on the RECs’ strategic plans, summit documents and interviews conducted at REC headquarters, the scholars show that while global powers have clear strategies for each sub-region, the RECs have yet to develop counter-strategies of their own. If African agency is to be strengthened at every level, the sub-regions cannot be overlooked. Written by scholars from across the African continent, the seven chapters are both academic and policy-oriented, offering practical recommendations for REC offi cials, civil society, the media, business and researchers seeking more equitable partnerships with global powers.

Chapters

  • Front Matter
    PDF
  • Foreword
    African Agency Toward Global Powers in Africa’s Sub-regions
    PDF
  • Chapter 1
    Fragmented Foundations within Regional Economic Communities: The Limits and Possibilities of Collective African Agency and the Communicative Implications to Global Powers
    Kabaso Kabwe, Job Allan Wefwafwa
    PDF
  • Chapter 2
    What are the Current Relations Between the Maghreb Arab Union and External Powers?
    Nizar Messari Al Akhawayn
    PDF
  • Chapter 3
    Southern African Development Community and African Agency Towards Global Powers
    Kebapetse Lotshwao
    PDF
  • Chapter 4
    Beyond Aid: The Double-Edged Sword of Development Part- nerships in the East African Community
    Gabriel Acaye, Achilleus Romward
    PDF
  • Chapter 5
    Economic Community of Central African States and African Agency Towards Global Powers
    Gabriel Cyrille Nguijol
    PDF
  • Chapter 6
    Between ECOWAS Agency towards Global Powers, or Global Powers Agency towards the Sahel?
    Bob Wekesa
    PDF
  • Conclusion
    Reflections on the Future of Africa’s RECs in a Shifting Global Order
    Bob Wekesa
    PDF
  • Contributors
    PDF

References

Downloads

PDF

Published

22 October 2026

Categories

Copyright (c) 2025 ESI Press

Details about the available publication format: PDF

PDF

ISBN-10 (Discontinued)

978-1-0671823-3-5 (E-book / digital)

ISBN-13 (15)

978-1-0671823-2-8 (Print)