Recently, an American named Erik Prince called on the United States to ‘put the imperial hat back on’ and govern countries and regions that cannot govern themselves.
On his radar is ‘pretty much all of Africa’.
Simply put, Prince is calling for the recolonization of Africa since, in his view, ‘they are incapable of governing themselves.’ Prince served in the US military and is a co-founder of Blackwater. This private military mercenary is remembered for its role in Iraq following the US invasion in 2003.
Even though Prince’s prescription may be considered too extreme, perhaps inconceivable in our time, his diagnosis of Africa’s plight is not isolated. Africa’s lamentable situation within the global system is just as widely acknowledged as it is empirically borne out.
The continent is home to approximately 1.3 billion people, inhabiting a geographical expanse of 30 million square kilometres. Africa ranks second because of its population and size, trailing only Asia.
Africa is also appreciated for its immense natural resources, including the longest river and the second-largest rainforest. It is also home to 30% of the world’s vital minerals, which power the world. But there is a flip side to the glowing attributes. The World Bank estimates show that slightly over half of the 700 million people categorized as living in extreme poverty are in Africa, specifically Sub-Saharan Africa.
The continent’s share of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a paltry 3%, a figure that pales the continent’s demographic, geographic, and resource command. Africa is home to 18% of the global population. Europe is home to 9% of the worldwide population yet commands 20% of the global GDP. It is only one-third of Africa’s size.
A Call for Recolonization? Understanding Africa’s Plight
Africa’s plight is not inevitable. Yet, its escape from the protracted plight is not natural. It is part of the global system synonymous with sheer competition. States, the basic unit of the international system, is primarily defined by national interests.
The reality about national interests is that they are mainly defined in isolation, with each state identifying what it seeks to achieve and setting about achieving it with the tools and instruments at its disposal.
Achieving national interest by one state may mean outright sabotage by the other. In fact, in numerous cases, it has occasioned precisely that. The level of influence—military, economic, political, and diplomatic, determines how well a state can attain its interests. It is a system that sparingly accords sympathy to fair play. Survival of the fittest is the rule of the game.
The conversation about Africa’s pathway to claiming its glorious place in the global order is hardly new. A lot has been said and documented about what Africa can and indeed should do to extricate itself from the position of attracting sympathy and pity to that of exerting control and influence.
From Aspirations to Action: AU, AfCFTA, and Beyond
Encouragingly, some steps have been taken to improve the continent’s fortunes. Several systems and frameworks have been established to anchor the ‘liberation’ quest.
The African Union (AU) stands out as the continent’s best chance at enhancing and consolidating cohesion politically, economically, and diplomatically.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a part of the AU’s system, holds immense potential for improving Africa’s economic fortunes.
Estimates show that AfCFTA’s successful implementation would yield a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion, making it the fifth-largest economy in the world. It is truly the continent’s economic tour de force.
The challenge is hardly in the prescriptions. They are in plenty. The elephant in the room is the implementation and actualization of the prescriptions.
The dysfunctionalities of the systems are in plain view. Despite decades of existence, more is needed to hear of the AU amid the myriad challenges afflicting the continent.
For instance, one genuinely wonders what vital interventions the AU has initiated to end Africa’s ‘forgotten conflicts’: the age-old unrest in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and, more recently, the civil war in Sudan.
It is a sad reality that, despite costing over 12,000 lives, Sudan’s civil war hardly competes for global attention like the Israel-Hamas and the Ukraine-Russia wars. Not even the substantial command of the United Nations has aided the situation. Africa alone controls 28% of the UN’s voting bloc.
If Africa is to claim its pride of place at the Committee of Nations, it must claim it. It must trigger and exploit all the potential leverages to assert its rightful place.
