EDITOR'S FOREWORD
Who Dey Fear Donald Trump?
Our latest issue, Who Dey Fear Donald Trump?, assesses Africa’s global positioning in the new Trumpian era of multipolarity.
COVER ESSAY
African Cooperation in the Age of Anti-Globalization
Unlike nineteenth-century multipolarity where Africa had limited internal interaction and post-colonial bipolarity when South Africa was under apartheid, the present state of multipolarity under anti-globalization may create sufficient pressure and open up a window for Africa’s powers to pursue closer partnerships with each other.
COVER ESSAY
Africa’s Opportunity in the Trumpian Age of American Transactionalism
Amid Trump’s disruptive return, Africa isn’t just reacting—it’s recalibrating. The continent has the opportunity to turn Washington’s unpredictability into a strategic advantage.
COVER ESSAY
Africa’s Climate Future in a Fragmented Multipolar World
Africa’s ability to shape its climate future in a multipolar world depends on deepening feminist, decolonial and intersectional approaches to foreign policy, development cooperation and justice.
COVER ESSAY
Africa and the Politics of Foreign Aid
President Donald Trump’s major changes to the United States’ foreign aid programmes have put Africa in a position where the continent has to question its place in a multipolar world order and strive for its own growth.
THE MINISTRY OF ARTS / FICTION DEPT.
Lagos Avenue
‘I had heard that police had raided Lagos Avenue. If that good Samaritan hadn’t come my way, I probably might have been paraded in front of the cameras and made it to the front pages of the tabloids that screamed: POLICE ARREST 54 ASHAWO GIRLS AT LAGOS AVENUE.’
THE MINISTRY OF ARTS / FICTION DEPT.
Conversation in Transit
‘When I boarded the Uber, my driver immediately identified me as African—specifically Nigerian. “You know, we know ourselves. We can tell when we see each other that we are from the same Africa,” he said.’
THE MINISTRY OF ARTS / VISUAL ART DEPT.
The Artist Who Terrified the Nigerian State
In 2015, when a steel bus Sokari Douglas Camp built to honour Ken Saro-Wiwa arrived in Nigeria, she didn’t expect the Nigerian state to arrest it. Ten years on with the bus still detained, the fearless sculptor reveals how one artwork shook the government and why memory, once forged in metal, can never be silenced.
THE MINISTRY OF BUSINESS X THE ECONOMY
The Economic Uncertainties of the AfCFTA Amidst Regional Conflict
The AfCFTA’s potential to transform intra-African trade risks being undermined by the volatility created by instability in the Sahel and Great Lakes regions.
THE MINISTRY OF BUSINESS X THE ECONOMY
Is China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Africa a Development Catalyst or Debt Trap?
As China’s Belt and Road Initiative is reshaping Africa’s economic landscape, opportunities in infrastructure development clash against rising debt, raising questions of sovereignty and long-term sustainability.
THE MINISTRY OF CLIMATE CHANGE X THE ENVIRONMENT
The Gendered Blindspots of Climate Policies
Gender alone does not determine climate vulnerability, and an intersectional approach that accounts for class, economic status and sociocultural norms must be brought into climate policies to move beyond representation towards meaningful empowerment.
THE MINISTRY OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS / FIRST DRAFT INTERVIEWS
‘Translation Is Where All Languages Meet’ Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ’s First Draft
Kenyan writer and author of Unbury Our Dead with Song, Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ, does not believe in the idea of a ‘great African novel’: ‘I do not think there is such a thing as the “great African novel”—or the “great Russian” or “European” novel—nor do I believe in the idea of major and minor literatures. We simply do not know enough and have not read widely enough to make such judgements. The idea of major and minor literatures is manufactured for us.’
THE MINISTRY OF GENDER X SEXUALITY
A Feminist Pan-Africanism for a World in Flux
As the impacts of recent events in global politics continue to reverberate, business as usual for Africa is impossible. A radical new vision is needed and possible. Feminist pan-Africanism is not just an internal reform of pan-African ideals; it is a necessary reorientation of Africa’s role in the world, one that centres justice, accountability, and people’s power as the foundation for genuine sovereignty.
THE MINISTRY OF GENDER X SEXUALITY
Naledi Pandor’s Feminist Reimagining of Africa’s Global Engagement
Global politics has often been framed as the ‘business of men’. Yet, Dr Naledi Pandor’s leadership disorders colonial patriarchal expectations of who does politics and how politics is done. In advocating for social justice, equity and self-determination, Dr Pandor demonstrates that politics need not be predatory and exploitative.
THE MINISTRY OF MEMORIES
The Timeless Solutions of the Gadaa System
The Gadaa system of the Oromo people of Kenya and Ethiopia offers an indigenous method of governance in Africa, as the adopted Western democracy seems to be failing the continent.
THE MINISTRY OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS
Algeria’s Golden Opportunity
Africa’s largest country, Algeria, has a sizeable record of global mediation, spanning the Iran-Iraq conflict in 1975 to the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict in 2000. Algeria’s evolving diplomacy raises questions on how it balances its revolutionary roots with pragmatic politics.
THE MINISTRY OF WORLD AFFAIRS
The Bronze Cracks in ECOWAS’s Golden Jubilee
As ECOWAS marks its 50th anniversary, the regional union faces remarkable successes and daunting challenges that have raised questions about its future.
the cover
‘Make the World Burn Again,’ by Edel Rodriguez
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SPECIAL THANKS
Illustrators: Sheed Sorple Cecil, Kingsley Chibueze, William Igwilo, Sarah N. Kanu, Kevwe Ogini, Shalom Ojo, Charles Owen, Ezinne Osueke and Dami Mojid.
Issue Design: Wale Lawal and Dami Mojid
Editors: Wale Lawal, Yusuf Omotayo, Peace Onafuye, Ada Nnadi, Chidinma Nebolisa and Ijapa O
