The upcoming Africa Development Conference 2026 at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Law School carries a powerful theme: “Reclaiming Africa’s Agency in a New Global Order.”
It is an intellectually seductive phrase. It rolls easily off the tongue. It sounds revolutionary. It evokes a continent ready to take control of its destiny.
But beneath the elegance of the phrase lies an uncomfortable question: is Africa actually positioned to reclaim any agency at this moment? Or are we witnessing yet another refined talk shop?
To ask this question is not to dismiss dialogue. Conversations matter. Ideas matter. Policy debates matter. Indeed, many important policy shifts begin as conversations in rooms not unlike the one that will host this conference.
Yet Africans are increasingly wary of conferences whose impact rarely travels beyond the auditorium.
The skepticism is not directed at the calibre of the speakers. The list is impressive: the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; the President of the African Development Bank, Sidi Ould Tah; former Mauritian President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim; and development finance leaders like Serge Ekue.
For avoidance of doubt, the issue is not the speakers. The issue is Africa’s structural reality.
The word agency implies the ability to shape outcomes.
Yet the continent currently struggles with the basic foundations of such power.
Across many African states, governance remains fragile. Institutions remain weak. Elections are often disputed. Corruption continues to erode public trust.
In such environments, discussions about reclaiming agency risk sounding aspirational rather than operational. The fact is not hidden. Before a nation shapes the global order, it must first shape its own domestic order.
Ironically, Africa’s greatest constraints are not external powers but internal governance failures. Weak fiscal discipline, regulatory uncertainty and elite capture of public resources have undermined economic transformation for decades. We all know that foreign investors do not flee Africa because they dislike the continent. They flee because they cannot predict the rules of engagement.
Agency begins with credibility. Credibility begins with governance. More importantly, security comes before Strategy.
Another inconvenient truth is security. From the Sahel to parts of Central and East Africa, insurgencies and armed groups challenge state authority. In several countries, governments do not fully control their territories. Even at grassroots level, land grabbers often manifest themselves into bandits and in order to keep their conscience, the become religious terrorists.
Meanwhile, a continent battling internal insecurity cannot simultaneously claim strategic influence over the emerging global order.Stability is the first currency of development.
Africa also remains structurally trapped in the lower rungs of the global value chain. The continent exports crude oil, cocoa, copper and other raw materials, while importing finished goods produced elsewhere. In essence, Africa still sells what it extracts rather than what it manufactures.
Indeed, countries that shape the global order are those that control technology, capital and industrial capacity. Until Africa transforms its economic structure, talk of agency remains premature.
Africa has never suffered from a shortage of conferences.
From Addis Ababa to Cape Town, from Abuja to Nairobi, development summits produce declarations, communiqués and glossy reports. However, what they rarely produce are implementation frameworks, financing mechanisms or measurable commitments.
The result is a widening credibility gap between rhetoric and reality. What Africa Should actually be pursuing are very glaring. If the continent truly seeks agency in the emerging global order, the priorities are far more practical though they may seem difficult but are doable.
First, institutional strengthening must become non-negotiable. Independent courts, professional civil services, very good police organizations, and transparent regulatory systems are the real foundations of power.
Second, security architecture must be strengthened. Without territorial control and citizen safety, economic development remains fragile. Who can invest readily in Maiduguri or southern Kaduna or Jos or Zamfara as things stand now?
Third, industrialization must move from policy documents to factory floors. Africa must produce more of what it consumes and export more sophisticated goods. The Singapore and Chinese experiences are sufficient examples.
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Fourth, infrastructure development must accelerate. Electricity, logistics, rail networks and digital connectivity are sine qua non.
Finally, leadership accountability must become the central metric of governance. Leaders should be measured not by speeches but by outcomes: jobs created, poverty reduced, industries built, farms multiplied and our natural resources are heavily protected.
None of this means the upcoming conference should not take place. Ideas matter. Dialogue matters. Policy evolution often begins in rooms where difficult questions are asked.
But Africa’s real challenge is no longer the absence of ideas.
It is the absence of execution.
Until that changes, the phrase “reclaiming Africa’s agency” will continue to sound less like a strategy — and more like another elegant conversation.
And Africa has had many elegant conversations before.
