Decades of embracing neoliberal electricity policies have left Africa, one of the world’s most resource rich regions, with the lowest energy consumption rates per capita. Despite this, African states face severe pressure to create urgent and necessary infrastructure projects in line with a new Western consensus on approaches to climate finance.

Joanita Najjuko and Crystal Simeoni argue for greater inclusion of the perspectives of women and girls as well as better recognition of their needs in macro-level economic decision-making. They demand feminist economic justice, show how unpaid care work is central to our economies and encourage resistance against the co-option of gender-based initiatives by neoliberalism.

Efemia Chela delves into lesser-known African LGBTQ+ histories and the colonial origins of transphobic and homophobic legislation across the continent. She highlights vital opportunities for solidarity between people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities to fight against economic misery, social marginalisation and political repression experienced by all.

Professor Issa G. Shivji explores the process of worldwide capitalist accumulation across several centuries alongside the emergence of grand narratives of nationalism and Pan-Africanism. By highlighting ideologies of resistance which grapple with evolving forms of domination and imperialism, Shivji illuminates the requirements for a new Pan-Africanism that would serve people’s struggles today.

There is a growing consensus on the necessity of industrialisation for Africa’s development. Central to this discourse is the issue of energy, crucial for successful industrialisation. Brian Kamanzi’s essay highlights the historical role of electricity in Africa and critiques the current ‘Green Structural Adjustment’ paradigm, which burdens the Global South with the costs of green transitions. Kamanzi urges a unified African approach to climate finance and national development planning for true energy sovereignty.

The fifth Pan-Africa newsletter reflects on the Malian Manden Charter’s historic advocacy for human rights and contrasts it with the British Magna Carta’s legacy. Highlighting the enduring quest for sovereignty, Mikaela Erskog discusses the Sahel’s contemporary push against Western interference and hyper-imperialism. As global economic power shifts towards the Global South, with the rise of new multilateral initiatives like BRICS and the Belt and Road Initiative, we need for greater unity and organisation among Global South nations.

From 13 January to 11 February 2024, the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) will be hosted in Côte d’Ivoire. Though the tournament is a celebration of football, it also casts a shadow over the profound challenges faced by Africans across the continent. A critical aspect of this year’s AFCON is the enduring influence of French capital in West Africa. TotalEnergies has been assertively expanding its reach, tapping into resources in countries such as Mozambique and Uganda, and Burkina Faso​.

Se están produciendo cambios tectónicos en el mundo, acelerados por la guerra de Ucrania y la rápida escalada del genocidio en Palestina. Los cambios están determinados por un Norte Global que pierde poder y vive una progresiva militarización, a la par que en el Sur Global crece la demanda de soberanía y desarrollo económico. Para comprender estos cambios y el desconcierto del Norte Global ante el nuevo estado de ánimo del Sur Global, el Instituto Tricontinental de Investigación Social elaboró el dossier nº 72, La agitación del orden mundial, basado en una investigación original realizada con Global South Insights.

Los acontecimientos de los últimos años, incluido el genocidio de Israel en Gaza, significan un cambio cualitativo en el orden mundial dominado por Estados Unidos. El imperialismo ha iniciado su transformación hacia una nueva etapa: el hiperimperialismo. Se trata de un imperialismo llevado a cabo de forma exagerada y cinética, aunque también sujeto a las limitaciones que el imperio en declive se ha impuesto a sí mismo. Es más peligroso, con el bloque militar liderado por EE.UU. que representa más de 2 billones de dólares de gasto militar.

On a spectrum of marginalisation, African women’s thought on the economy arguably remains the least visible, a convergence of the problems that dominant economic traditions have with both gender and Africa. By identifying the impact of patriarchal capitalism and recognising the diverse ways in which it operates, feminist perspectives offer alternative economic systems that prioritise equitable distribution and environmental sustainability in general.

Africa has increasingly diverged from the Atlantic powers, more weary of Western militarisation, economic strangulation, and tepid diplomatic policies that give little room for sovereign development. We need new locomotives to represent and advance the collective aspirations of the people not only domestically but the shifting balance of forces globally. Through joint collaboration within our Network of African Research Institutes, we hope to build our capacity to support the leading social movements confronting the dilemmas of humanity on the continent.

En 1965, el primer ministro de Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, escribió sobre el neocolonialismo: “significa poder sin responsabilidad, y para quienes lo sufren, significa explotación sin compensación”. Este concepto sigue siendo útil para describir nuestro mundo, en que la riqueza de las naciones pobres es drenada por empresas multinacionales.