In recent years, there has been no shortage of news, analysis, or political commentary on the increasingly impactful, varied activities, and probable intentions of global powers in Africa. However, the vast majority of what is projected, and consumed by the global policy and intellectual community is presented through the perspective of the said global powers rather than from an African standpoint. As a result, and against the backdrop of global competition between these powers in Africa, African actors and stakeholders are prone to see the role of the global powers in ways that promote and sustain the global powers’ interests rather than African ones. This viewpoint essentially disregards the agency and reasoning that African actors may possess in a rapidly changing global order. It glosses over African aspirations stated in the African Union’s (AU) blueprint of Agenda 2063 as well as the short-, medium–, and long-term goals of regional economic communities (RECs) and national or country-level policies