The book is divided into two parts: the first focuses on Africa’s strategic partnerships with BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries, while the second examines relationships with other emerging countries. It highlights Africa’s agency in these partnerships, emphasizing the continent’s economic development goals.

The first part of the book examines the extent to which Africa’s agency is effectively represented in its partnership with the BRICS countries, considering the historically exploitative economic practices in Africa by the global north (2, 82). The book emphasizes the unbalanced economic relationships between Africa and its intercontinental trading partners, where Africa’s energy and minerals are plundered in return for humanitarian aid and increasing debt burdens (2, 152). Consequently, Africa’s economic partnerships with Europe, the West, and Asia have continued to be “vertically, rather than horizontally aligned” (2). The first section of the book takes a closer look at Africa’s bilateral and multilateral ties with the BRICS nations to determine whether they offer more balanced benefits rather than maintaining the old patterns of uneven trade relationships. The authors specifically identify several benefits in favor of the BRICS countries over African countries. For example, India, the world’s fastest-growing economy, requires substantial amounts of oil, gas, and other natural resources to sustain its industrial expansion, and Africa is home to five of the top thirty oil-producing countries in the world (94). India also lacks domestic oil and gas reserves; consequently, its reliance on imported oil is projected to rise above 90 percent by the year 2040 (94).

Similarly, Russia, China, and South Africa depend heavily on Africa’s consumer market for their industrialized products and advanced manufactured goods, raw materials, and agricultural goods, including crude oil, precious stones, iron ore, platinum, and cobalt (75, 170, 191). The authors argue that while the BRICS countries have benefited immensely from their partnership with African countries, the reverse is the case for Africa (122, 183). Africa, home to twenty-three of the world’s poorest twenty-eight countries, has an underwhelming overall economic development (161). However, its essential raw materials and human capital continue to be exported to build the economies of other continents (153, 168). There appears to be a gradual shift from the one-sided relationship with studies showing an increase in the export of industrialized goods and the stabilization of raw materials exported out of the continent (172). China-bound African agricultural goods have also significantly increased since the beginning of the US–China trade war in 2018 (170). Brazil has also increased investments in Africa through its South-South Cooperation (SCC) agreements (21).

The second part of the book shifts focus to Africa’s relationships with a group of emerging countries, including Iran, Turkey, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, and nations in the Caribbean. It explores Africa’s long-term sustainable development goals through the lens of key strategic frameworks such as the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063, a long-term development project adopted in 2013. The AU’s Agenda 2063 sets out a blueprint for the continent’s effective strategic partnerships with key global economies. It is built on seven key aspirations, including a prosperous and sustainable Africa; a united, peaceful, and secure continent; and an influential people-driven development continent (341). The agenda measures the value of strategic partnerships by their age, whether it involves a country or continent, and aligns with the union’s aspirations, and whether it is structured and coordinated in a way that multilateral relationships do not undermine bilateral partnerships (272). The authors in this section analyze the bilateral and multilateral relationships that Africa shares with some emerging countries that have seen a significant increase in the importation of goods to Africa. Some examples include Iran’s export to Africa, which increased by 107 percent between 2021 and 2022 from US$579 million to US$1.2 billion, as well as Turkey’s tenfold increase over twenty years from US$3 billion to about US$34 billion, signifying a considerable uptake in multilateral partnerships with the emerging countries (228, 257). Indonesia also saw a notable growth in importation of “non-oil products including manufacturing and agriculture” from Nigeria, with an overall record of US$2.6 billion (381). Beyond trade, the book critically analyzes whether development initiatives led by these emerging countries contribute meaningfully to Africa’s long-term goals. Programs such as South Korea’s Korean Initiative for Africa’s Development (KIAD) and Japan’s Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) are examined to determine how effectively they align with the objectives of Agenda 2063 (307, 327). The authors conclude that although development initiatives such as South Korea’s KIAD and Japan’s TICAD have produced significant results in line with Africa’s development goals, others have fallen short. One example is the multilateral partnership between the European Union and the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (EU-OACPS), which has not been as productive (395). Although the agreement offers “duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market, there has been little progress made due to the lack of commitment and financial contribution by member states, as well as dependence on ‘former colonies’ linked to Africa and the Caribbean’s economic interests” (395).

One crucial contribution of the book is its call for a realignment of Africa’s partnership with BRICS, where the continent’s economic development goals are placed at the forefront of such a framework. However, it is worth noting that the book focuses on Africa’s strategic partnerships with the countries in BRICS rather than the continent’s partnership with the intergovernmental forum itself. Nonetheless, the book serves as a landmark resource defining the blueprint for Africa’s strategic economic partnerships.