Regional Bodies And Collective Alignments: AU, SADC, ECOWAS, AES, And Pan-African Initiatives

Introduction

Building upon the country-level alignments examined in Article 6—where individual African nations such as South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Algeria, Kenya, and Morocco demonstrated pragmatic strategies in engaging BRICS and the West—this seventh instalment explores how regional bodies facilitate collective responses to these global blocs. As BRICS consolidates its expanded membership following the 2025 Rio Summit, and Western institutions like the EU and NATO adapt to multipolar shifts, regional organisations in Africa play a pivotal role in harmonising national interests, amplifying continental voices, and advancing self-reliance. The African Union (AU), Southern African Development Community (SADC), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the emerging Alliance of Sahel States (AES) exemplify this, alongside Pan-African initiatives that transcend sub-regional boundaries.

 

Drawing on AU reports, the 2025 Africa Integration Report, and analyses from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), this article analyses these entities’ alignments, internal dynamics, and contributions to Agenda 2063. This collective lens reveals how regional frameworks strengthen African agency, paving the way for evaluating pros and cons in the next article.

 

 

The African Union: Continental Coordination in a Multipolar World

The African Union, established in 2002 as the successor to the Organisation of African Unity, serves as the continent’s premier body for fostering unity and integration. By October 2025, the AU has prioritised eight key areas, including mediation in Sudan and bolstering Somali security, while advancing Agenda 2063’s second ten-year implementation plan. In navigating BRICS and Western blocs, the AU adopts a non-aligned stance, engaging both to secure developmental benefits without compromising sovereignty.

 

AU-BRICS collaboration has deepened, with the bloc’s 2025 Rio Summit emphasising multilateral reforms aligned with African priorities, such as UN Security Council expansion. African BRICS members—South Africa, Egypt, and Ethiopia—channel continental agendas into the group, advocating for south-south solidarity and addressing connectivity gaps through initiatives like the New Development Bank (NDB). For instance, the AU’s participation in BRICS forums has facilitated discussions on de-dollarisation, aiding African economies vulnerable to Western financial sanctions. Concurrently, the AU maintains robust Western ties: partnerships with the EU under the Global Gateway initiative support sustainable infrastructure, with EUR 150-billion mobilised by 2025, half allocated to Africa. US engagements via AFRICOM focus on counterterrorism, though perceptions of neo-colonialism persist, echoing Article 3’s historical context.

 

This balanced approach enhances African leverage: the AU’s 2025 priorities include reforming global governance, aligning with BRICS’ push for a multipolar order while utilising Western funding for Agenda 2063 projects. Challenges remain, such as internal fragmentations from regional conflicts, but the AU’s role in amplifying collective voices underscores its contribution to continental self-reliance.

 

 

Southern African Development Community: Leveraging BRICS Membership for Regional Growth

SADC, comprising 16 member states including BRICS member South Africa, focuses on economic integration and peacebuilding in southern Africa. By 2025, SADC has advanced industrialisation strategies under its Vision 2050, aligning with AfCFTA to boost intra-regional trade. In global bloc engagements, SADC benefits from South Africa’s BRICS position, using it to bridge African interests with emerging powers.

 

South Africa’s dual role—hosting the G20 in 2025 and advocating BRICS reforms—has influenced SADC’s alignments. The bloc’s expansion in 2024, adding Egypt and Ethiopia, has elevated Africa’s weight in BRICS, enabling SADC to pursue infrastructure funding via the NDB for projects like renewable energy corridors. Russia and China’s investments in mining and transport, exceeding USD 50-billion regionally by 2025, complement this, reducing dependency on Western loans. However, SADC maintains Western partnerships: EU trade agreements account for 40% of exports, and US initiatives like Prosper Africa support private sector growth.

 

Internal tensions, such as Mozambique’s instability, test SADC’s cohesion, but its pragmatic multi-alignment—evident in neutral stances on global conflicts—aligns with African agency, fostering regional stability amid the geopolitical contest described in Article 5.

 

 

Economic Community of West African States: Navigating Internal Rifts and External Pressures

ECOWAS, with 15 members focused on economic union and security in West Africa, faces significant challenges by 2025, including the withdrawal of AES countries. This has reshaped its alignments with BRICS and the West, emphasising resilience in a fragmented region.

 

ECOWAS has strengthened Western ties: EU partnerships fund migration and trade deals, while US military cooperation counters jihadism. The bloc’s response to coups in the Sahel involved sanctions, aligning with Western democratic norms, though this exacerbated divisions. BRICS engagements are selective: Russia’s overtures for stronger ties, amid the Sahel rift, include agricultural and energy deals, but ECOWAS prioritises integration with AfCFTA to counterbalance. Nigeria’s BRICS partnership, as noted in Article 6, influences ECOWAS by advocating de-dollarised trade.

 

The AES exit risks fragmenting West African unity, but ECOWAS’s focus on economic interventions over military ones promotes stability, supporting Agenda 2063’s integration goals.

 

 

Alliance of Sahel States: A New Paradigm for Security and Sovereignty

Formed in September 2023 by Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger as a mutual defence pact, the AES evolved into a confederation by July 2024, emphasising military cooperation and sovereignty. By October 2025, marking its second anniversary, AES has pivoted towards Russia and BRICS, expelling French and US forces while formalising Kremlin military support.

 

Alignments lean eastward: Russian Africa Corps provides training and resources in exchange for minerals, countering Western influence perceived as neo-colonial. AES’s withdrawal from ECOWAS in January 2025 signalled a break from Western-backed institutions, focusing on anti-jihadist operations and economic self-sufficiency. While engaging BRICS for alternative financing, AES maintains limited Western ties for humanitarian aid. Internal dynamics reveal unequal partnerships, with Mali leading military efforts, but the alliance underscores African-led solutions to security challenges.

 

 

Pan-African Initiatives: Transcending Regions for Continental Unity

Beyond sub-regional bodies, Pan-African initiatives like AfCFTA and Agenda 2063 provide overarching frameworks for engaging global blocs. AfCFTA, operational since 2021, aims to increase intra-African trade to 52% by 2045, with 2025 seeing accelerated implementation through the Africa Integration Report. It enables diversification from Western dependencies by fostering south-south trade with BRICS, while Western investments support digital infrastructure.

 

Agenda 2063, the AU’s blueprint for transformation, integrates these efforts, with the 2025-2030 foresight emphasising resilience amid global shifts. These initiatives amplify African agency, countering binary framings by leveraging competition for technology transfers and funding.

Implications for African Self-Reliance

These regional alignments bolster Africa’s push for self-reliance, as diversified engagements with BRICS and the West complement AfCFTA and Agenda 2063. BRICS offers alternative financing to reduce debt burdens from Western conditionalities, while regional bodies like SADC and ECOWAS negotiate better terms for technology and trade. However, fragmentations—such as AES’s rift with ECOWAS—risk undermining unity, potentially exacerbating tensions from Article 2’s internal bloc dynamics. By prioritising Pan-African solutions, these entities can transform rivalries into opportunities, enhancing sovereignty and equitable development.

 

The Role of US Tariffs in Shaping Africa’s Regional Alignments Amid BRICS-West Rivalry

The escalation of US tariffs under the second Trump administration—raising average rates from 2.5% to 27% by April 2025—represents a direct economic response to BRICS’ de-dollarisation agenda and serves as a strategic instrument of pressure on the bloc’s expanding influence, including its African members. These tariffs, which impose 30% duties on South African exports and 10% surcharges on goods from Egypt and Ethiopia, have amplified Africa’s economic vulnerabilities while simultaneously reinforcing the continent’s resolve to pursue self-reliance through regional coordination. The African Union has positioned itself as a diplomatic intermediary, advocating for multilateral reforms and utilising BRICS-aligned financing mechanisms such as the New Development Bank to cushion member states against trade shocks.

 

Within SADC, the tariffs have prompted diversification strategies that redirect export flows towards BRICS and AfCFTA corridors, strengthening regional industrialisation and reducing dependency on Western markets. ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) illustrate divergent yet complementary pathways—ECOWAS favouring negotiated diversification through local currency trade and selective Western waivers, while AES consolidates autonomy through deeper Russian-BRICS linkages and mineral-based trade resilience. Pan-African initiatives, particularly AfCFTA and Agenda 2063, operate as systemic buffers, promoting intra-continental trade integration and technology transfers to counterbalance tariff-induced disruptions.

 

These developments underscore that US economic coercion, while disruptive, has accelerated Africa’s pivot towards multipolar economic sovereignty rather than undermining BRICS-aligned engagements.

 

Conclusion

Regional bodies and Pan-African initiatives collectively illustrate Africa’s evolving strategy in managing relations with competing global blocs, with the 2025 US tariff escalations providing a critical test of this resilience. The imposition of steep tariffs—rooted in Washington’s opposition to BRICS’ de-dollarisation agenda—has underscored the fragility of Africa’s external trade dependencies while simultaneously reinforcing the necessity of coordinated continental responses.

 

The African Union has leveraged its diplomatic position to contest unilateral measures through multilateral forums and to advance BRICS-aligned financial alternatives via the New Development Bank. Within SADC, punitive tariffs on South African exports have prompted a diversification drive towards intra-African and BRICS markets, demonstrating pragmatic adaptation under Vision 2050. ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States have adopted contrasting but complementary approaches—ECOWAS through negotiated resilience and AES through assertive autonomy—both converging on the principle of economic sovereignty. Pan-African frameworks such as AfCFTA and Agenda 2063 serve as the overarching buffers, enabling intra-continental trade integration, technology transfers, and value-added production to offset external shocks.

 

Collectively, these mechanisms reveal that rather than eroding Africa’s alignments, US tariff coercion has catalysed a more assertive pursuit of self-reliance, positioning the continent as an increasingly autonomous actor in the emerging multipolar order.