Hannah Wanjie Ryder
The year ahead will be one of opportunity and challenge for Africa. South Africa’s G20 presidency in 2025 helped lay the groundwork for greater coordination on key global reforms, reaffirming the continent’s commitment to homegrown policy responses. Investment and trade flows into Africa are expected to grow, driven by private firms and domestic banks, as well as by emerging economies like the Gulf countries, China, and India, which increasingly view African development as a long-term national interest.
At the same time, economic insecurity – rooted in decades of underdevelopment and felt most acutely by a growing cohort of educated, globally connected yet unemployed young people – will continue to fuel instability, particularly in West and East Africa. Outdated relationships with the G7 and G20, often marked by interference and unfulfilled investment commitments, will not help – and may even exacerbate these problems. African leaders would therefore do well to proceed cautiously, resist divide-and-rule tactics, and stand firm in negotiations with external partners, including the Bretton Woods institutions.
