The US–China rivalry is reshaping global supply chains, the World Trade Organization (WTO) gridlock is forcing new trade arrangements, and the Bretton Woods institutions, anchored in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, are under pressure to reform. At the center of these shifts sits Africa, with over 30% of the world’s critical minerals required for the just energy transition. The question is not whether the world needs what Africa has; that is already settled. The question is whether, during this latest scramble, Africa will position itself to extract maximum value.

With vast mineral wealth, a unified market of 1.4 billion people, and a GDP exceeding $2.8 trillion, the continent holds the weight to demand fair terms. But this is only possible if it negotiates as one on debt and finance, climate change, critical minerals, and trade. The institutional architecture already exists through the African Union and the Africa Free Continental Free Trade Area (AFCTA), yet sovereignty concerns and competing bilateral relationships continue to limit cohesion. African Union reform, towards pre-negotiation at AU level, stronger mandates for AU negotiators, and meaningful inclusion of civil society and the private sector, would be critical.

There is growing recognition that Africa’s solutions lie with its young people. With a median age of 19, Africa is the youngest continent in the world, at a moment when youth, technology, and digital transformation are converging. Prioritizing young people is therefore not a social obligation, but a strategic imperative. By 2050, the United Nations estimates that the youth population will double to over 830 million, while the working-age population will rise to 1.56 billion, accounting for 85% of the global workforce.

The economic case is equally compelling. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), strategic investments in local processing and manufacturing in the minerals sector alone could unlock $24 billion in GDP annually and create approximately 2.3 million jobs. This underscores a central truth: diversifying Africa’s economies to create jobs at scale begins with industrialization. The continent cannot fully harness its demographic dividend without rebuilding its productive base, one that decades of neoliberal orthodoxy and extractive trade arrangements have weakened.

The East Asian Tigers did not emerge by chance. Their transformation required decades of state-led investment, protection of infant industries, import substitution, and patient capital. Ironically, these are the very policies the World Bank spent decades discouraging across Africa in favour of free-market prescriptions that often served creditors more than citizens. That the World Bank has taken a U-turn is an acknowledgment that cannot be ignored. Africa must take note, and more importantly, take charge of its own development model, rooted in its realities, its humanity, and its knowledges.

At the same time, Africa must recognise that neither state intervention alone nor private sector forces alone can deliver transformation. What is required is a functioning social contract built on trust, accountability, and the centring of citizens’ needs and voices, while upholding constitutionalism. Stable and democratic institutions remain the foundation of inclusive economies. Unity without democratic legitimacy is hollow and short-lived. The continent cannot credibly demand fairer global governance while experiencing democratic backsliding at home. Young people are not waiting; Africa must move with urgency to address the demands of the present moment and reverse historical injustices that stand in the way.

The rupture of the multilateral system signals both challenge and opportunity. The systematic and self-serving weakening of the global rules-based order makes it harder to respond to collective crises. Future shocks, including pandemics, climate change, and natural disasters, will have even more devastating impacts without a functioning multilateral system anchored in the United Nations.

Yet Africa has also earned the standing to demand reform of the United Nations Security Council, IMF voting rights, the global tax architecture, and trade rules, not as a supplicant, but as a bloc representing 1.4 billion people and some of the world’s most critical resources. That standing, however, evaporates the moment Africa negotiates in fragments. Bilateral deals struck in isolation will always favor the stronger party. Only a collective voice can secure structural change.

As Africa marks 63 years since the first Africa Day, this moment is more than a historical milestone. It is a call to reaffirm unity, cooperation, and sustainable development. Africa’s leadership and collective agency are more crucial now than ever. Redrawing asymmetrical trade deals, rebalancing power in the multilateral system, addressing inequality, and investing in young people must define Africa’s transformation. The “Africa Rising” narrative is not a myth, it is a reality of our time. And it begins now.

The OpED was written by Rumbidzai Masango, Program Manager at Open Society Foundations; Nancy Muigei, Program Manager at Open Society Foundations; and Ichumile Gqada, Program Manager at Open Society Foundations.