July Seminar

Two sides of the same coin? ‘Pan-Sahelism’, Pan-Africanism, and African futures

Presenter: Sebastian A. Paalo (PhD)

Abstract

How are the core values of the Alliance of the Sahel States (AES), a breakaway union from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), reflected in the broader history of Africa’s role in international affairs? How does Africa’s history in geopolitics offer a more useful lens to understand and approach the AES for more pragmatic regional security and development? By addressing these important questions, this paper, through a decolonial lens, conducts a Comparative Historical Analysis (CHA) of relevant academic and policy debates about the relationship between the AES's proclaimed values and key continental blueprints and narratives on Africa’s development and international engagement. It explores how the guiding principles of the AES, including Mutual Defense and Assistance, Economic and Political Emancipation, and Strengthening Regional Ties Amid International Pressures, reflect Africa’s major regional principles of historical significance, mainly Pan-Africanism, Non-Alignment in international politics, and the African Union Agenda 2063. The analysis shows a strong alignment between the AES’s stance and Africa’s historically rooted position in geopolitics, positioning the AES as a potential driver of a continental revival toward a meaningful Africa-led governance and development model that has not been seen in decades. The paper examines the security and development implications of the AES question, within Africa’s broader geopolitical history. It is argued that the AES echoes Africa’s long-standing continental position on context-sensitive, emancipatory, and mutually beneficial development and international politics, yet Africa’s history of unstable progress across different global orders raises serious doubts about the AES’s ability to lead the continent’s emancipatory development. This paper adds important nuance to the discussion on Africa’s fluctuating regional integration trajectory and offers critical insights for a more nuanced understanding of the AES question, aiming for collective security and fairer engagement in the global market. 

Keywords: Sustainable development, regional integration, African development paradigm, African governance, decolonial politics.