As part of its research seminar series, The African Leadership Centre (ALC), in collaboration with the Cluster of Research Excellence on Interdisciplinary Peace, are pleased to invite you to the ALC Research seminar series event “Africa-US relations and collective agency: now and the future?” which will be held on Tuesday, 27 January 2026, at 14:00 -16:00 GMT/17:00- 19:00 EAT.

The session will examine how Professor Isike’s research on group hegemony and foreign relations in Nigeria and South Africa, along with his leadership at the African Centre for the Study of the Americas, can shed light on current US–Africa relations and the importance of a collective, Pan-African perspective.

About the event

Africa-US relations are at a critical juncture. While US policy discourse increasingly acknowledges Africa as a “partner of choice” in a multipolar world, Africa’s ability to shape the terms of engagement remains uneven and weak.

This presentation shall analyse Africa-United States relations through the lens of group hegemonic leadership, a theoretical perspective that moves beyond individual state power to examine how coalitions, institutions, and norm-setting capacities enable collective influence in global politics. Rather than treating Africa as a passive arena of US engagement or as a fragmented set of bilateral partners, the presentation conceptualises Africa as a potential group hegemon, able to exercise leadership through coordinated agenda-setting, institutional authority, and normative power with the continent. In so doing, the presentation shall focus on how collective leadership can emerge through shared vision, institutional coherence, and the capacity to provide regional and global public goods. It shall explore four areas: trade and industrial policy, security cooperation, critical minerals and technology governance to assess whether Africa is exercising leadership or reacting to US priorities. The argument is that where Africa speaks and acts collectively, it enhances bargaining power and normative influence; where fragmentation persists, engagement remains transactional and asymmetrical. Therefore, the future of Africa–US relations will hinge less on US strategic intent than on Africa’s ability to consolidate group hegemonic leadership - transforming numerical strength and moral authority into coordinated power capable of shaping rules, partnerships, and global outcomes.

About the speaker

Prof Christopher Isike is a Professor of African Politics and International Relations at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

About the discussant

Sithembile Mbete joined PARI as Executive Director at the end of 2024. She is a political scientist with fifteen years of experience working in academia, civil society and government. Before joining PARI, she was a senior lecturer in the Department of Political Sciences at the University of Pretoria. Sithembile’s research interests include global governance, elections and democratisation. Prior to UP, she was a researcher in the secretariat of the National Planning Commission contributing to the drafting of the National Development Plan in the areas of public service reform, anti-corruption policy and community safety. She has served on the Boards of well-known civil society organisations since 2014. Sithembile holds a doctorate in International Relations from the University of Pretoria, and master’s and undergraduate degrees from the University of Cape Town.

About the chair

Professor Eka Ikpe is the Director of the African Leadership Centre at King's College London, and Professor in Development Economics in Africa.