Africa's emerging global partnerships: Their implications for the continent's development aspirations

Important changes have been occurring in the ill-defined area of partnership in Africa, mainly in the context of the AUs quest for development

Important changes have been occurring in the ill-defined area of partnership in Africa, mainly in the context of the African Union’s quest for development as well as peace and security on the continent. The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe the implication of these partnerships as well as its long-term development objectives and, subsequently, to evaluate their relevance to the present economic conditions of African countries. This paper also attempts to analyse Africa’s strategic partnerships: the Africa–Indian Forum Summit, Africa–Europe Summit, China–Africa Cooperation Forum (South–South) and the Africa–South America cooperation (South–South). Furthermore, the paper tries to address the political, economic, cultural and social development that have a potential to shape the African society and its implication on peace and security agenda on the continent.

About the author

Dr Debay Tadesse received his BA degree in World History from Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, and his MA degree in African History and PhD in African Studies, specialising in Public Policy and Development in Africa, from Howard University in Washington, DC. He is a senior researcher for the Conflict Prevention Programme at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The author would like to thank the internal and external reviewers for the helpful comments and suggestions on the earlier draft , Mr Kenneth Mpyisi, Mr Roba Sharamo, Professor Mathews and Dr Kasahun Woldemariam.