Abstract
Until recently, literature on leaving care has emerged primarily from the Global North, with very little from the Global South, including from Africa. The special issue of Emerging Adulthood titled ‘Care-leaving processes and services in Africa’ is the first collection of essays on care-leaving by African scholars. It presents both care-leaving and emerging adulthood scholars from the Global North a unique opportunity to consider the implications of a rising African voice for global dialogue. This article, co-authored by scholars from North and South, argues in favour of North-South dialogue, but highlights several challenges inherent in this, including the privileging of Northern knowledge and voice, the indigenising and thus marginalising of African experience and scholarship, and divergent constructions of key social concepts. The authors argue the need for mutually-respectful discourse between North and South and present specific guidelines for fostering such global dialogue.