Subnational Foreign Relations in Africa: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of South Africa and Nigeria

Abstract

This book offers a pioneering comparative analysis of the international relations of subnational governments (SNGs) in two of Africa’s most influential geopolitical actors—South Africa and Nigeria. Using an interdisciplinary approach that draws from political science, international relations, and legal studies, we examine the motivations, instruments, institutional mechanisms, and challenges shaping the external engagements of SNGs in these leading African economies. Through these case studies, we provide critical insights into how constitutional, institutional, and historical contexts influence subnational international relations from an African perspective. Drawing on these findings, we argue that paradiplomacy in Africa is best understood through the lens of developmental paradiplomacy, where socio-economic imperatives—rather than political autonomy—drive subnational international engagement. Our study demonstrates how the need for practical cooperation and the pursuit of local and regional economic development have been central to the international involvement of African SNGs, i.e. a strategy born out of necessity rather than an expression of political self-determination