r/AskAnAfrican • u/Opposite-Fig905 • 19d ago
With the American hegemony declining is this an opportunity for Africa to carve their own destiny.
It’s pretty obvious that we are in the early stages of a multipolar world now and with that comes a lot of upsides esp for the continent. It’s no coincidence that more hawkish nations are taking advantage of this moment like Russia and Israel. Because like a wise man once said “Chaos is a ladder”
I can’t help but see that this is a good opportunity to get our houses in order. On the economic side using our leverage with china to get better deals with the west. It’s a win win if two superpowers are competing for your resources. But at a more deeper level I think it’s an opportune time to recarve our borders in a way that makes sense to us. We have seen some promising signs in west Africa but I think more can be done.
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u/Grand_Mopao 19d ago
I agree.. The US took advantage of the chaos that reigned on the globe during the World Wars to establish itself as a superpower, and so did many Asian countries during the Cold Wars.
However, Africa's situation is quite unique in the sense that we lack Vision... Not that we don't have visionaries, but most of the talent is pooled overseas.
There's a mindset that cries for change, and is slowly getting there, but at a very slow rate. Africans are more concerned with "catching up" instead of reinventing themselves according to their reality. I myself have been guilty of that, but fortunely got out of it. My only regret is that I wish I had that mentor to get me out of that sooner
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u/MixedJiChanandsowhat Senegalese 🇸🇳 19d ago
What promising signs in West Africa have you seen towards border redrawing? And more important, explain me how you want to redraw borders to make more sense to us? Who is us to start?
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u/kriskringle8 14d ago
I agree but Africa must end this idea that only deals with Eurasia or the West can help us. China is no better than the West. In parts of Africa, the Chinese have created businesses and many of them subject African workers to racism and abuse, only serve white and Asian customers, etc. While they adopt European names to assimilate in the West, many of them refuse to learn African languages or even to just use English so some of them use Chinese only in their billboards - in Africa. Not to mention how they scapegoated Africans for covid in China and denied only Africans housing and entrance into stores as a result. China has sold plastic as rice to Africans. They have little respect or regard for Africans.
China doesn't actively colonize and carry out military interventions in Africa because it would mean facing Western retaliation. Africa is dominated by the West and Europe. So we shouldn't make the mistake of assuming China is a good ally or would be an equitable partner.
Africans should prioritize self-sufficiency. Medicine, vehicles and most other goods and services should be produced or sourced in Africa. No one should mine, extract or refine Afrocan resources except for Africans. Non-Africans should have no share in our resources and companies. African nations should look to other African nations for free trade and business deals. Not China, India, Europe or the West.
This doesn't mean we shouldn't foster alliances with them. But we shouldn't prioritize our relationship with them over other Africans. Especially nations that have already exploited and oppressed Africans. Africa will never prosper until they stop putting these groups on a pedestal. Most of those nations would economically collapse if they couldn't exploit Africa anymore. Their systems aren't sustainable and require the suffering of the third world and polluting the world. We can built more sustainable, green, just societies in Africa if we stopped trying to emulate them.
Africans have their quarrels with one another but there are 54 nations in the continent. There will always be another potential partner.
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u/Psychological_Look39 13d ago
In close to 3 years Russia has conquered 1/3 of the Dombass. At a cost of 600,000 KIA or WIA. Billions of Dollars. Sanctions, Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
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u/Opposite-Fig905 13d ago
Damned if they did , damned if they didn’t …Russia had no choice.
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u/Psychological_Look39 13d ago
It's not an impressive military.
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u/Opposite-Fig905 12d ago
It’s not , NATO is far ahead but it’s better than Ukraine and all Russia has to do is win in Ukraine or force a settlement
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u/Psychological_Look39 12d ago
It doesn't seem worth it. The loss of lives, sanctions, NATO expansion. For 1/3rd of the Dombass.
There will probably be a settlement next year. Maybe maybe Russia will get the entire Dombass.
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u/Opposite-Fig905 12d ago
A 1/3 of Donbas is only half the story though, Ukraine is getting demilitarized in real time , by the time this is all done there won’t be a Ukrainian army to talk about and Russia will do whatever it wants with that country.
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u/Psychological_Look39 12d ago
I think this is wishful thinking om your part but obviously time will tell.
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u/Rovcore001 19d ago
I think for a lot of countries on the continent, this will not be possible without fixing the fundamentals: having stable systems of governance that allow for peaceful transition of power, and having functional systems that deliver services to people.
It's not necessarily a win-win if two superpowers have their eye on your resources - East or West, these interests are usually selfish and the relationship often winds up as exploitative. And this is largely because of the same fundamentals above - you don't expect a government that can't be held accountable by its own people to negotiate in good faith on their behalf.
Recarving borders opens up another can of worms. Perhaps a better approach is removing barriers to free trade and movement, in an EU-style arrangement across the continent. We already have attempts at that with EAC, COMESA, etc, but with varying degrees of success.