Africa’s in need of a harmonised engagement strategy

NEXT month African leaders will be heading to St Petersburg, Russia, to attend the second Russia-Africa summit. They will meet with their Russian counterparts to discuss the ways in which they can improve trade and diplomatic relations.

Usually, a key outcome of such a high-level event is to promote the idea of achieving win-win outcomes for all the parties involved. It could be argued that such high-level platforms provide an opportunity for African leaders to express and assert their agency.

However, despite Africa’s participation in similar initiatives with countries such as China, India, Turkey, the US and Japan among others, the continent still lacks a co-ordinated