AFRICA’S ENGAGEMENT WITH GLOBAL POWERS
Introduction and Background
The Africa US Universities Initiative (AFUSI), which brings together the Centre for the Study of the
United States (ACSUS), based at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), the Centre on
Communication Leadership and Policy (CCLP) at the University of Southern California, the Centre for
African Studies at Howard University, the Institute for African Studies at George Washington
University, and the Public Diplomacy Council of America convened the US-Africa Forum on 25 February
2024. The forums are a space for the exchange of ideas and discussions that unpack various global
issues affecting the world, with an emphasis on Africa-US relations. The forum is hosted in a hybrid
format with a physical presence at the University of Southern California’s Washington DC campus and
virtual participation via Zoom. Adam Clayton Powell, senior fellow and director of Washington
programs at CCLP welcomed everyone to the second forum for the year, which was focused on the
theme ‘Africa’s engagement with global powers’. He stated that the CCLP website included a calendar
of forums for the entire year 2024. Furthermore, this particular forum had four speakers from Africa,
the US, and East Asia, with more than 50 participants attending in person and virtually.
In his opening remarks, Dr Bob Wekesa, director of ACSUS, noted that the recent past had witnessed
global powers engaging Africa, with several summits taking place in 2024 and more lined up in 2025.
In January 2024, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Group of 77+China (G77) summits were
held in Kampala, Uganda, followed by the first-ever Italy-Africa summit, held in Rome. More summits
were expected in the year, including the South Korea-Africa Summit scheduled for June, the Forum on
Africa-China Co-operation (FOCAC), the UN Summit of the Future in September, and the G20 Summit
in November, where Africa was admitted as a memberin September 2023. He further noted that these
big signature events were not idle events because they came with action plans and resolutions that
impacted Africa in many ways. Analysing Africa’s engagements in such forums, and whether Africa
was benefitting, was therefore crucial. He was hopeful that the sessions and topics discussed would
be helpful to Africa at the African Union (AU) level as well as to members of the regional economic
communities.
