African agency at the crossroads | Dan Banik

In this solo episode, Dan Banik reflects on a series of recent conversations across Pretoria, Addis Ababa, Blantyre, and Mauritius, where African scholars, policymakers, civil society leaders, NGO directors, administrators, and practitioners debated the future of development in a rapidly changing world. Against a backdrop of dramatic aid cuts, geopolitical fragmentation, climate pressures, and growing interest in artificial intelligence, the episode asks what African agency really means in practice. Rather than treating the current moment simply as a crisis, many participants described it as a wake-up call: an opportunity to rethink aid dependency, strengthen domestic institutions, mobilize local resources, and move beyond donor-driven agendas. The discussion explores several recurring themes: who defines development, whose knowledge counts, what makes a just energy transition genuinely just, why “homegrown solutions” can be both powerful and problematic, and how African countries can shape the use of AI without accepting new forms of technological dependency. From Malawi’s debates on aid and production to Ethiopia’s reflections on a changing international order, from South Africa’s energy transition to Mauritius’s AI ambitions, the episode highlights the urgency of moving from rhetoric to bargaining power. At its core, this is an episode about voice, power, and direction. The crossroads may indeed be the best road. But only if Africans choose the path, set the terms, and ensure that development delivers what citizens actually want: decent jobs, reliable electricity, functioning schools and clinics, and governments that are accountable to the people they serve. Host:Professor Dan Banik, Centre for Global Sustainability, University of OsloSubscribe:Apple Spotify YouTubehttps://globaldevpod.substack.com/