Africa and International Economic Relations in the 21st Century

Abstract The global political economy has over the years experienced many changes since the end of the Second World War. Despite the changes and continuities in the 21st century, the place of Africa in the international political system has ironically remains that of the centre-and periphery relations which has been associated with dependency, underdevelopment and lopsided economic and political activities of actors. Worse still, while Africa represents a resourcefully rich region, however, its influence in global political economy is nothing to write home about. The paper uses documentary research and qualitatively analysed data on the pattern of global political economy vis-à-vis the position of Africa in international politics and argues that the continent is short-changed by the nature of global governance. The political economy of global politics has engendered a permanent state of epileptic development in most African societies and this arrangement has compounded the continent’s woes, particularly in a multipolar world system where international financial institutions muster their hegemony and cripple any assertive call for reforming the global system. Therefore, the paper argues that unless African states act in unison with other global South and voice out their demands for a global governance reform to call for political and economic inclusivity, the plight of these societies will continue unbated. It is recommended that global South relations and regional integration are key to the liberation of African states from the capture of the global financial hegemons. Keywords: Globalization, development, political economy, global governance, dependency, regional integration.