Disentangling the Question of African Agency: Maturing, Retarded or Degenerating?

Exploring the multifaceted dimensions of African agency in international relations, this review article interrogates the complex interplay between structural marginalization and the capacity of African actors—state and non-state alike—to influence global order. Through contemporary scholarship, it challenges reductive narratives that depict Africa solely as a passive recipient of external forces. The analysis synthesizes diverse perspectives, highlighting a dynamic tension where African agency is simultaneously asserted, constrained, and evolving. The authors engage the scholarship in a quasi-comparative dialogue, contemplating whether this agency is maturing, retarded and/or degenerating, while emphasizing the importance of including Afrocentric epistemologies to enrich understanding. Notably, African states’ strategic involvement in initiatives like China’s Belt and Road showcases their agency amidst risks of neo-dependency, revealing both opportunities for self-defined development and potential dependencies. Future empirical research is urged to translate conceptualizations of agency into practical applications within diplomatic and policy contexts. In the conclusion, the paper emphasizes that the measure of African agency transcends theoretical discourse; it must be recognized in its operationalization within global governance structures. The paper therefore calls for a re-evaluation of Africa’s role as an active player on the world stage.