Beyond Aid: African Science and the Emergence of Multipolar Knowledge Regimes

The global system of scientific knowledge production is undergoing a structural transformation. For decades, African research systems have operated within what can be described as aid-dependent science systems, shaped by Western funding priorities, institutional partnerships, and epistemic hierarchies. Recent large-scale reductions in foreign aid—particularly following the dismantling of USAID and parallel cuts by major OECD donors—signal not merely a contraction of resources, but a potential transition toward a post-aid configuration of global science. This project advances the concept of multipolar knowledge regimes to analyse how African science is being reconfigured under conditions of shifting geopolitical power. It asks whether current developments represent a temporary disruption or a deeper transformation in the organisation of global knowledge production. Rather than treating Africa as a passive recipient of external influence, the study positions African research systems as a critical lens through which broader changes in the geopolitics of knowledge can be understood. Combining policy analysis, semi-structured interviews, bibliometric analysis, and a survey of African researchers, the project investigates how changing funding landscapes reshape patterns of collaboration, linguistic practices, and academic careers. It further explores the conditions under which processes of negotiated epistemic autonomy may emerge, as African institutions and scholars redefine their position within an increasingly multipolar scientific order.