International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy: Which Way to Fix Africa's Problems?

As Africa faces a myriad of challenges - development, climate change, growing instability, interstate disputes - consensus through multilateral diplomacy is the only way to resolve them, Prof. Felix Asogwa, Professor of International Relations at Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUST), lawyer and Director of the Institute for Peace, Conflict and Development Studies at ESUST, told Sputnik Africa.

"There's no way on an individual basis, these countries can be able to surmount some of these challenges they are facing, except through cooperation, which is what multilateral diplomacy is preaching," Asogwa said. "To that extent, there's no meaningful way of achieving all the common challenges these Third World countries are facing, except through the instrumentality of multilateral diplomacy."

The expert noted that African countries had been aware of the importance of multilateralism from the "very beginning," from the formation of the Organization of African Unity to the present African Union. Today, the AU and other regional organizations on the continent “provide the platform for this multilateral diplomacy to thrive in Africa,” he added.

"To a greater extent, they will enable [...] to coming together, to realize the need to form a common front in terms of resolving conflict, in terms of pursuing common objectives which they share together, and so on and so forth. So within the African continent, the spirit of multilateralism has always flowered," the pundit opined.

The major challenge for the African Union today is the organization's lack of independence, the expert said, explaining that the AU has been criticized for being heavily dependent on Western influence.

According to the analyst, Western powers are influencing the direction of both political and economic developments in Africa by "subverting the whole idea of ‘intra’ within African cooperation."

"That is one key challenge, Africa, in terms of lack of independent existence because most African countries are under the influence of Western powers. It has transmitted to the multilateral arrangements within Africa, so that such arrangements have not been able to be firm because of this overbearing influence, especially coming from the Western powers," Asogwa opined.

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He noted that, due to the fact that the relationship between Western colonizers and African countries was not conducted on an equal footing, the continent's leaders began to look for alternative ways to achieve a hopeful partnership for better socio-economic development.

"As a result of the unequal and exploitative relationship with the Western powers," African countries have begun to explore the possibility of re-engagement with Russia and China, the expert explained.

"Russia, China, these are emerging centers of global powers in the world that are gradually building up to checkmate the unipolar world dominated by the US through its allies in Western Europe. Today, multipolarism, no doubt, is becoming a reality because the increasing powers of Russia, both in terms of military power both in terms of economic power, the same applies to China in terms of economic and military power," Asogwa pointed out.

In this vein, the professor noted the BRICS bloc as attractive to African countries trying to create more centers of power among the world's developing countries. According to the expert, the bloc provides a more balanced global political order and "supports the whole idea of multipolarity in global affairs."

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Professor Asogwa also lauded initiatives like the House of Africa opening in Moscow, which "provide a better arena for greater understanding." He viewed such endeavors as instrumental in fostering multilateralism and advancing equitable relations between nations.

"And to that extent, I think it is a welcome development because, so far, African countries, like I did point out earlier, are looking out for alternative platforms for multilateral diplomacy that will be based on equity, that will be based on mutual benefit to all the countries involved," he concluded.