The African Union, a continental organization, is heading for a new traditional face within the framework of its guiding principles. That new forthcoming era would open a new chapter and, to a large degree, determine the future of Africa, especially taking cognizance of the current global changes. In less than a year for the expiry of the African Union Chairperson’s position, an advanced search for the next candidate has begun. As stipulated by the organization’s constitution, the candidate for the powerful position is normally elected. It is tentatively planned to choose the fifth Chairperson to succeed incumbent Chairperson Moussa Faki…
Author: Prof Maurice Okoli
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have adopted an incredible approach towards tackling chronic conflicts and related security threats from various extremist groups like Boko Haram, al-Qaida, and Islamic State-affiliated groups by creating a formidable military alliance in the semi-arid Sahel region in West Africa. As these West African States are entangled in fierce ethnic-Islamic conflicts that have adversely impacted on their sustainable development and economic progress, the trio-military force reflects a more proactive and dynamic coordination in resolving their own security hurdles. It would also enhance practical possibilities of combating terrorism and extremism in the interests of strengthening peace and…
As stipulated by the guidelines, Russia takes over BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] from January 2024. With the heightening of geopolitical tensions, Russia’s priority focus is on the group’s possible enlargement to counter U.S. hegemony. It plans to push seriously for critical reforms in the international financial architecture and create a solidified platform for building an equitable multipolar world order. In the past few years, BRICS group has taken a number of broad initiatives that aim at countering hegemonic policies and against the collective West for imposing the ‘rules of the game’ on the world majority. There…
Over the past few years, African Union, the continental organization, has made intra-African trade its newest flagship and has created the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF), which provides a unique and valuable platform for potential investors to support the continent’s transformation through industrialisation and export development, for businesses to access adequate trade and market information, and operate in an integrated single African market of over 1.4 billion people with a combined gross domestic product of over $3.5 trillion under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Organized by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), in collaboration with the African Union and the…
Amid heightened criticisms and intense debates over several significant global issues including new financial architecture, economic diversification, growing debts and reforms, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, on October 15 wrapped up their week-long annual meetings held under the theme “Global Action, Global Impact” in Marrakesh, Morocco in North Africa. With the rapid geopolitical changes, it featured prominently finance ministers and central bank governors from 190 countries in desperate search of comprehensive mechanisms and suitable approaches to address the prevailing economic crisis across the globe. The coordinated annual meetings also reviewed its scope of geographical operations with…
The Valdai Discussion Club’s 20th Annual Meeting, themed “Fair Multipolarity: Ensuring Security and Development for All,” took place in Sochi, a southern coastal city of Russia. It gathered some 140 experts, politicians, and diplomats from 42 countries throughout Eurasia, Africa, and North and South America. The story of the Valdai Club’s twenty meetings is a chronicle of an extremely interesting and turbulent time. Really, it was hard to imagine discussing the world for twenty years. In a practical context, that is its greatest primary achievement. The Valdai Discussion Club, founded in 2004, is named after Lake Valdai near Veliky Novgorod,…
For the majority of African leaders and delegates, it was momentous achievement, to participate and contribute speeches with diverse themes at the podium during the 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. The UNGA traditionally meets in September, the highest global gathering to take several significant decisions on what the organization, consisting of 193 UN members, is generally expected to do. It has wrapped up its 78th annual session with another huge pack of commitments to engage in reshaping a better life for the entire population and Development paradigms in the world. In the context of…
The African Union has taken up more formidable challenges by joining the Group of Twenty (G20) in September 2023. It has struggled down the years to develop, since its creation, into a dynamic continental union with a resemblance of the European Union. Recent developments in global great power politics have come with complex challenges and opportunities for the African continent. Nevertheless, the AU views the emerging multipolar world as an opportunity to move up, with its unified voice on pertinent issues, unto a global stage. At the far end of the 18th summit, the African Union (AU) was finally granted…
Johannesburg was the scene for the 15th BRICS — Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa — summit held late August during which leaders raised African Union’s permanent seat in the G20. Early September, New Delhi is the scene for G20 summit to discuss changing geopolitical situation and global development and most likely to make historic approval finally of AU’s permanent seat in G20. South Africa and India are both members of BRICS, and are both members of G20. President Cyril Ramaphosa witnessed two new African States (Egypt and Ethiopia) entry into BRICS. On the other hand, Indian Prime Minister…
From all indications, China has emerged as the greatest beneficiary at the 15th BRICS summit – a platform hosted by South Africa last August with participation of African leaders. The summit turned out be successful with most of the significant questions put under serious discussions and finally ended with a joint declaration which outlines the necessary strategic pathways into the future. In practical context, BRICS is increasingly becoming the beacon of hope for the new multipolar world. At the most obvious level, there were some genuine adverse criticisms, but one main advantage was and still exists now is the emphasis…
BRICS De-dollarization: Future Prospects and Critical Challenges For the five BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) members, de-dollarization has become the latest common buzz-word among the English vocabulary. Long before the highly-praised Johannesburg’s 15th BRICS summit, considered as very important step forward on the way to deepening interaction in the sphere of trade and investment with the nations of Global South, all the five BRICS leaders have made it their priority task to find their own common currency so as not to depend on the United States dollar in the emerging new world. Understandably, the primary reason is…
Undoubtedly the forthcoming 15th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit August 22 – 24 in Johannesburg, South Africa, opens the door for critical multiple issues mostly relating to the irreversible processes of the emerging new world. While it seriously presents an opportunity to take meticulous stock of its wins and losses, strength and weaknesses, the summit has the imperative to examine the new paradigms, evaluate innovative directions and assess strategies for moving the organization farther in this re-configurating world. The BRIC concept was created by the Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill, and the “S” was added after…
As part of efforts to build a more resilient regional economy largely depends on several factors. What specifically is under discussion here is the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the strategic mechanism through which the region’s economy can be raised up to standard, taking cognizance of the fast growing population and its associated demand for employment and ensuring food security as well as sustaining certain level of appreciable living standards. Understanding explicitly the enormous untapped resources, both natural and human, is very essential and indivisible interconnected to the West African region’s development. As we know, there are…
Many of today’s problems affecting the majority of the world, including Africa and Russia, are a direct consequence of the persistence of old colonialism and the imposition of renewed forms of colonialism. Conversely, the notorious prosperity of the West can be attributed to the rules of a predatory world order generated by this colonial legacy. The justifications, forms and technologies of colonialism have changed over the centuries, but to this day their disastrous consequences have not been fully overcome. The “golden billion” continue to feed their prosperity and finance the maintenance of their “freedoms and values” by siphoning off all…
The latest political situation unfolded in Niger, the unexpected removal of democratically-elected President Mohamed Bazoum late July and the deepening differences in perception across Africa explicitly shows Africa’s level of political illusions and, practical reality towards attaining unity dimension in Africa. In a nutshell, Africa remains sharply divided. Tracking down the Africa’s unity propagated by the Big Six politicians including Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere et cetera, during the time of their struggle for political independence and the creation of an organization for Africa. More than sixty years, the important question of continental unity has been pursued with with great…
Russian President Vladimir Putin invited African leaders and ‘non-Western friends’ to his hometown, St. Petersburg which hosted the second Russia-Africa summit from July 27-28. In the past three years, Russias Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has visited several African countries. Lavrov has used the shuttle diplomacy in African capitals to build support and strengthen further political contacts in preparation for the Russia-Africa summit. According to Kremlin report, the current geopolitical period is “extremely difficult” and consequently only 17 heads of state out of 55 African countries were at the summit. There were, of course, a total of 49 African delegations noted…
At the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin held his first meeting with Dilma Rousseff, President of the New Development Bank (NDB), established by the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) in 2015. Rousseff, the first woman to lead the bank, was appointed to head it earlier this year by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. It is a multilateral development bank established with an initial capital of $100 billion. According to the NDB stipulated primary functions, it has to cooperate with international organizations and other financial entities, and provide technical assistance for projects to…
For this discussion, it necessary to set the premise using the United Nations. In UN resolutions, codes and standards, the governments have agreed that humanitarian assistance should be allocated according to the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence. This normative framework, however, must not lead to an incorrect assumption that humanitarian aid is divorced from political power. But instead, the decision as to where, how and why to provide humanitarian assistance is part of more extensive foreign policy considerations which are guided by both norms and interests, such as geopolitical concerns or the aim of a donor to…
At least, African leaders gradually recognise the need to work collectively to ensure food security. Food supply has seriously been exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Africa’s persistent internal ethnic conflicts and a series of natural disasters. But more fascinating are the latest arguments over the interconnection between utilising resources for increasing and improving food production and taking adequate measures toward shedding import dependency. The month of June 2023 was a busy month for African leaders. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa headed the Africa Peace Initiative to Kyiv and St. Petersburg, famous cities in Ukraine and Russia. Then later, he joined…
