At a policy gathering, justice activist reframes Africa’s development trajectory

At a pivotal policy gathering in the nation’s capital, Abuja, social justice activist and human rights lawyer, Aderonke Ige, took centre stage to advance a bold reframing of Africa’s development trajectory at the public presentation of Beyond Aid and Fear: A Progressive Path to Africa’s Growth Resurgence, a publication of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), co-authored by Churchill Othieno and Aderonke Ige.

The public presentation, held at Reiz Continental Hotel, Abuja, on Monday, 23rd February, 2026, was convened by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Nigeria, and brought together senior government officials, legislators, diplomats, development practitioners, and scholars to interrogate Africa’s strategic position in a rapidly shifting global order.

As co-author of the publication, Ige positioned the conversation beyond traditional aid paradigms, urging African policymakers and partners to confront a rapidly shifting global political economy. The book interrogates how the surge of right-wing populism across parts of Europe and North America is reshaping development cooperation and trade relations with Africa, often linking aid to migration control frameworks and culturally conservative agendas, while protectionist trade measures constrict market access.

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Rather than framing Africa as a passive recipient within this evolving order, Ige articulated a structural, forward-looking response anchored on four strategic levers: fiscal sovereignty, an accelerated and equitable implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), sustained investment in human capital and innovation ecosystems, and the consolidation of accountable democratic governance. She emphasised that the publication is not an anti-Western critique, but a rigorous analysis of shifting power configurations and a call for Africa to assert agency.

“At the centre of this discourse is power and agency,” Ige noted during her presentation. “Africa must transition from external dependency toward fiscal autonomy and regional resilience. Aid may complement development, but it cannot anchor it.”

The publication further advances what Ige described as a “progressive playbook” for governments, civil society actors, and international partners, advocating domestic resource mobilisation, stronger peer review mechanisms within African institutions, innovation-led growth models, and partnership frameworks grounded in mutual accountability rather than unilateral conditionalities. She cautioned against mimicking authoritarian governance trends, arguing that democratic resilience should be treated as a strategic asset for long-term competitiveness.

The event, which marked FES Nigeria’s first major activity of the year, drew senior policymakers, diplomats, legislators and development experts. The Resident Representative of FES Nigeria, Mr. Lennart Oestergaard, underscored the urgency of rethinking Africa’s development path amid declining global consensus on development cooperation. Founded in 1925 in Germany and active in Nigeria for five decades, FES is currently commemorating its centenary year.

The Deputy Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, represented by his Special Adviser on International Relations, in his keynote address, highlighted structural trade vulnerabilities, citing Africa’s marginal share in global exports and modest intra-continental trade levels. He called for deliberate fiscal reforms, stronger public finance accountability, and legislative measures to enhance competitiveness, aligning closely with the fiscal sovereignty arguments advanced in the book.

Representing the Permanent Secretary of Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Dunoma Ahmed, Director of Research and Statistics, Mr. Oluremi Oniyide, described the publication as particularly timely, noting that Africa is effectively operating in a “post-Official Development Assistance epoch”. With aid flows falling short of the UN’s 0.7 percent GNI benchmark and increasingly tied to donor-country domestic politics, he stressed the need to recalibrate financing strategies for the African Union’s long-term development framework.

Throughout the engagement, discussions converged on a shared recognition: while the contraction of traditional aid flows presents undeniable pressures, it simultaneously creates strategic space for Africa to consolidate domestic revenue systems, deepen regional trade integration under AfCFTA, and reinforce democratic governance as the foundation for durable growth.

In steering the conversation, Aderonke Ige’s intervention was clear and deliberate: Africa’s resurgence will not be driven by fear of aid withdrawal, nor by dependency on external benevolence, but by structural reform, institutional confidence, and a reassertion of continental agency in a changing world order.

Across interventions, moderated by Jennifer Stephen, there was broad consensus that declining traditional aid flows, while challenging, create strategic space for Africa to consolidate domestic revenue systems, scale innovation, deepen regional integration and negotiate global partnerships from a position of confidence rather than dependency.

Other panellists, including Christopher MENSAH-YAWSON from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Dr. Samuel OGUCHE of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Hauwa MUSTAPHA of Feminism Laboratory and Godson NWANKWO, an alumnus of the Open Minds Young Voices (OMYV), all deepened the discourse by interrogating the practical implications of the publication’s recommendations. They reflected on the volatility surrounding preferential trade frameworks such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), noting that uncertainty in external markets reinforces the urgency of strengthening intra-African value chains. The panel agreed that AfCFTA must be implemented with safeguards for smaller economies and workers to prevent asymmetric gains.