Africa in the Global Order: Indian Perspective

As a continent with vast natural, mineral and energy resources, Africa’s global significance in today’s world cannot be disputed. In recent years, Africa has become the centre of global attention with both traditional powers and emerging powers like China, India, Japan, and others engaging the countries in the region. Four specific developments  denote the growing importance of Africa in the global order.

Africa has become a major growth pole

Africa is no longer considered a “hopeless continent” as suggested by the Economist, rather it possesses all the prerequisites to become a major growth pole of the world. 1 According to the IMF, in 2019, Africa is home to several of the fastest growing economies in the world.2 This positive outlook is the result of several steps taken by the African countries, guided by the spirit of African solutions for African problems.

Economically, the Africans have taken steps towards integration.

In 2015, African leaders adopted Agenda 2063 as the continent’s new long-term vision for the next 50 years. A central theme is the integration of the AU’s 54 member states, opening up borders, merging markets and speaking with a common voice in global fora. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)  signed by 44 member states of the African Union on March 21, 2018, aims to deepen the African integration process, and will allow free movement of people and trade across the continent. Similarly, other initiatives led by the African Union, such as, the Programme for Infrastructure Development (PIDA) aim for reducing the infrastructure deficit across the continent.

Politically, with the aim of not having to face the equivalent of the Rwandan genocide, the African Union in 2002 launched the African Peace and Security Architecture, a continental framework dedicated to promote peace and stability in the region. It is designed as a system of institutions, norms and policies, whose purpose is to manage and prevent conflicts in the region.

Common positions on major international issues

In order to enhance its position and voice in the global arena, and conscious of the sheer power of numbers in multilateral diplomacy, the 54 member states of the African Union who constitute about 28 per cent of the UN membership, have evolved a policy to harmonise their individual negotiating positions on major international issues into common African positions.3 While there were very few independent African states at the time UN charter was being drafted, an official group of African states has existed in in the UN since the 1960s.  In the recent decades African countries have evolved a proactive approach for advancing distinct positions in key international negotiations. The growing pace of regional integration in the continent has also pushed the African countries towards evolving joint approaches at international forums. The Ezulwini Consensus on the UN reform and Common African Position on Climate change, Common African Position on the Post-2015 Development Agenda are some examples of this strategy.

Contribution to Global Peace and Security

African countries have assiduously contributed to global efforts to promote restore and sustain peace in conflict ridden areas of the world.4 They have discharged these tasks through the African Union Peacekeeping mechanism or through the United Nations. African countries comprise of over half of the UN peacekeepers today. In fact, African countries like Ethiopia and Rwanda have displaced India and Bangladesh to become the top two troop contributing countries to UN peace keeping efforts in the world. Similarly, a key pillar of the African Peace and Security Architecture are the African Standby forces. They  have been raised primarily to enhance African capacities to enforce peace in various conflict zones in the continent. In the last two decades, the AU has launched peace operations to deal with conflicts in, Burundi, Sudan, Somalia, Mali, Central African Republic and Comoros.

Promotion of Reconciliation

Africans have provided examples of how to promote reconciliation between various groups, societies and communities around the world. It is epitomised by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa, which offered a model of state-led reconciliation  through transitional justice to heal the suffering caused by decades of apartheid rule. Recent studies highlight Africa’s contribution to the global norms related to transitional justice.5 The TRC moved away from the process of punishment as suggested in retributive justice approaches. It evolved the innovative ideas of restorative justice that focused on reconciliation. The Commission has set an example through acknowledging, both South Africa’s troublesome past and the bringing out the perpetuators and victims narratives. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who led the TRC in South Africa attributed the success of this mechanism to the fact that it was grounded in the African philosophy of Ubuntu or humanness that encourages forgiveness.6

The TRC has also inspired other countries to confront their violent past. Similar national reconciliation mechanisms were set up in several countries in Africa. For e.g., the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission in Rwanda, Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission in Kenya, Equality and Reconciliation Commission in Morocco.

In conclusion, it is important to highlight the positive vision of late Kwame Nkrumah, Former President of Ghana. He said, “…I believe …the African race, united…will emerge as a great power…whose greatness is indestructible because it is built not on fear, envy and suspicion, but founded on hope, trust and friendship and directed to the good of  all mankind.”7  It is hoped that through collective efforts African countries may be successful in realising this dream.

• 1. “The hopeless continent.” Economist, May 13, 2000.
• 2. “IMF: sub-Saharan Africa World’s Fastest Growing Economies in 2019”, Kenyan WallStreet, January 21, 2019, at https://kenyanwallstreet.com/imf-sub-saharan-africa-worlds-fastest-growi… (Accessed May 22, 2019).
• 3. Siphamandala Zondi, “Common positions as African agency in international negotiations: an appraisal”, in William Brown and Sophie Harman (eds.), African Agency in International Politics,  Taylor and Francis, London, 2013, pp. 19-33.
• 4. Cedric de Coning, “Africa and UN Peace Operations: Implications for the Future Role of Regional Organisations”, in Cedric de Coning and Mateja Peter (eds.), United Nations Peace Operations in a Changing Global Order, London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, pp. 213-229.
• 5. Tim Murithi, “ Localizing Transitional Justice Norms”, in Katharina P. Coleman and Thomas K. Tieku (eds), African Actors in International Security: Shaping Contemporary Norms, Boulder, Lynne Rienner, 2018, pp 153-173.
• 6. Graham Fox ,”Remembering Ubuntu: Memory, sovereignty and reconciliation in post-apartheid South Africa”, Platforum,12, 2011, pp.105-106.
• 7. “Kwame Nkrumah’s Vision of Africa”, BBC World Service, September 14, 2000, at https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/highlights/000914_nkrumah.shtml ( Accessed May 24, 2019).