Part Two: Foreign Economic Policy and the African State - African Agency in the 21st Century

The 54 states of the African continent each take a diverse approach to handling foreign relations. As a region with extensive ties across the globe, foreign economic policy is a crucial domain in which African nations balance trends from abroad with domestic needs and norms.

A panel co-hosted by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center and African Studies Center will explore the drivers of foreign economic policy among African states, the strategies, tactics and tools African states deploy in this domain, the impacts of foreign economic policy on state and society across the continent and African agency on these critical matters. The panel will focus on how the foreign economic policies of African states are being shaped by recent global trends such as multipolarity, COVID-19, climate change, democratic backsliding, an evolving African multilateralism and the diffusion of new technologies. The session will bring together an interdisciplinary group of scholars and policymakers with the goal of advancing academic knowledge and encouraging policy innovation in this arena.

On Tuesday, April 12, join the Boston University Global Development Policy Center and African Studies Center for a virtual panel discussion on African economic agency in the 21st century.

Speakers:

Magalie Masamba: Global China Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Boston University Global Development Policy Center and Post-doctoral Fellow, International Development Law Unit, University of Pretoria Centre for Human Rights

Yuan Wang: 2021-22 Fellow, Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program and Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Columbia University Weatherhead East Asian Institute

Biruk Terrefe: DPhil Candidate, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford

Michael Woldemariam (Moderator): Associate Professor of International Relations, Boston University and Director, Boston University African Studies Center