African Public Square (APS)

Join us for an insightful discussion at the Global @APS_ALC during King’s Africa Week. Theme: How Should the Resourcing of African Agency Be Negotiated? On Monday, 2 March 2026 18:00 – 21:00 GMT. Keynote Address Hon. Thokozile Didiza, Speaker of the National Assembly of RSA.

@SABCNews @TMFoundation_ @ALC_KCL We must take justice seriously; our continent must uphold accountability. Across Africa, we observe policy approaches responsive to our needs. We must foster this innovation in our young generations.

Prof Awino Okech argues that political solidarity can be observed, powerful tales of Africa on the global stage. Our collective weight must be grounded with our greatest asset, our people. The role of intelligentsia must be observed, leadership and the investments into research and our higher education institutions. We must invest in our continent, resourcing our agency. #AfricanPublicSquare #APS2026 #APSGlobalEdition #AfricanAgency #ResourcingAfricanAgency

@ALC_KCL @SABCNews @TMFoundation_ We must interrogate the relevance of negotiation when there often isn’t a viable negotiating table. #AfricanPublicSquare #APS2026 #APSGlobalEdition #AfricanAgency #ResourcingAfricanAgency

Wadeisor Rukato (ALC Alumni) says post-independence ushered in vast changes in the political terrain but did not encourage enough economic freedom-Africans owning the means of production. We must examine African governance and populations, the social contracts that build this, meeting the basic needs of Africans, giving them choice, giving them agency. #AfricanPublicSquare #APS2026 #APSGlobalEdition #AfricanAgency #ResourcingAfricanAgency

The second thing is which is this idea that if moon doctrine is the foundational basis upon which the America is putting the world, then Africanism is the only instrument that will help amongst us. What that means, it means we must organize. #APS2026 #APSGlobalEdition #AfricanAgency #ResourcingAfricanAgency

Our responsibility is to consolidate these positions as Africa's knowledge and not apologize about them because I think this lack of association of these policies and ability to implement it is a challenge that we must take. #APS2026 #APSGlobalEdition #AfricanAgency #ResourcingAfricanAgency

Max Boqwane notes that the challenge of the continent is we are not ready to define and consolidate our own agenda. China has an agenda for us. Europe has an agenda for us. And the U.S. has an agenda for us. We have no agenda for ourselves and for the rest of the world. @TMFoundation_ @ZambiaHigh

Ethiopian ambassador Bruk Mekonnen says when we discuss about the resources in Africa, it seems that we understand that there is a change in the global political system. It seems there is a consensus today that a fragmented, contested, and visibly transactional global system is emerging, forming this global system. And for Africa, recalibrating its role is urgent to cope with this global changing environment and implementing action towards both the external pressures. How is Africa entering into this new global order? #AfricanPublicSquare #APS2026 #APSGlobalEdition #AfricanAgency #ResourcingAfricanAgency

It means building institutions that endure, alliances that empower, and leadership that is confident and coordinated. Africa is not waiting to be positioned in the multipolar world. We are preparing to shape it. #AfricanPublicSquare #APS2026 #APSGlobalEdition #AfricanAgency #ResourcingAfricanAgency

Ambassador Benson notes that he idea of Africa is redefining a different narrative, that is based on African agency, is no longer being shaped only outside the continents. It is increasingly being driven from within. Ultimately, resourcing African agency means moving from probability to preparedness, from reacting to global shapes to anticipating them. #AfricanPublicSquare #APS2026 #APSGlobalEdition #AfricanAgency #ResourcingAfricanAgency

The negotiation is not simply about money, it is about power, it is about voice, and it is about the future of the continent whose demographics, dynamics, natural resources, and entrepreneurial energy will shape the 21st century. Let us move from asking what Africa can be supported to asking how global systems must adapt to support Africa's self-determination. #AfricanPublicSquare #APS2026 #APSGlobalEdition #AfricanAgency #ResourcingAfricanAgency

Leadership must operate at every level not just in governments or laws, but among citizens and within academia too. The real question is whether our research capacity is responding to the lived challenges of our communities or drifting above them? #APSDebate #APS2026 #KingsAfricaWeek #Africa2026

Bargaining power increases when Africa negotiates as a collective, a single bloc we have seen in some of our states such as Zimbabwe, Zambia, a joint initiative that helped bring agency in practice. #APSDebate

Strategic platforms matter. The G20, with the AU now a member, should be used to leverage Africa’s scale and partnerships across the Global South to advance shared interests. BRICS and other Southern coalitions are not sidelines, they are arenas. Africa must be a co-author of global transformation, not a footnote. #APSDebate #APS2026 #KingsAfricaWeek #Africa2026

Strategic platforms matter. The G20, with the AU now a member, should be used to leverage Africa’s scale and partnerships across the Global South to advance shared interests. BRICS and other Southern coalitions are not sidelines, they are arenas. Africa must be a co-author of global transformation, not a footnote. #APSDebate #APS2026 #KingsAfricaWeek #Africa2026

Four binding constraints on African agency: Dependence on global systems designed without African input Fragmented negotiating power Extractive global trends that lock economies into raw material dependency Persistent knowledge hierarchies Resourcing African agency means moving beyond the language of development toward domestic mobilisation, citizen-centred policies, and investment in African-driven initiatives. #AfricanAgency #AfricaWeek #GlobalGovernance

Many people who speak of our institutions, why do we forget about our pan-African women’s organisations, formed by rural women, able to mobilise around the continent with their own resources, forming a continental organisation. #APSDebate

Despite our challenges we still find ways to resource our agency. Africans have been able to craft what we want. African Agenda 2063, the African peer review mechanism, and the ACFTA are examples of this. How has this agency evolved over many years, how is it resourced? By Africans themselves.

Hon Thoko Didiza says that African agency means the power of African states to shape their own policies and values and control their own voices. It is not externally scripted. It is sovereignty in action! #APSGlobaldebate