The Elephant in the Room: America Must Not Ignore Africa’s Growing Power
Representatives of African nations discuss in the African Union headquarters. Source: Daily Sabah
In 2018, Marvel’s Black Panther burst onto the pop culture scene and shattered countless box-office records. Starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, and Lupita Nyong'o, the movie angled an unprecedented yet vital spotlight onto the African continent. Soon, the popularity of the film even eclipsed Africa itself. Wakanda, the fictional setting of the Marvel masterpiece, was the fourth-most searched African nation in the movie’s year of release, behind Egypt, South Africa, and Kenya but before 50 other legitimate nations. Black Panther championed African representation; yet, its success proved that Africa severely lacks media attention and global perception of importance despite countless statistics on its growing status. In the coming decades, the continent’s economy will double. Its population will triple. Its foreign direct investment will quadruple. This data illustrates Africa’s coming status as a rising power – a status that American foreign policy refuses to acknowledge.
Akin to societal ignorance of African countries besides Wakanda, American diplomats and policymakers often sideline pressing affairs and political developments on the diverse continent. During former President Trump’s first year in office, only five American ambassadors were confirmed to serve in African nations. Similarly, American economic investment in Africa remains underdeveloped, recently falling to the nadir of the early 2000s. The Biden Administration even removed a dozen nations from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a program to promote free trade between the United States and the African continent. The elimination of those nations from the AGOA, often seen as the cornerstone of American economic ties to Africa, threatens to only further these issues. Faced with little American diplomatic or economic support, nations inevitably turn to Russia, China, or American adversaries eager to promote anti-western sentiments. With these imperative topics in mind, I had the honor of hearing Ambassador Mary Yates, former deputy commander at the United States Africa Command, speak about barriers between the western world and Africa.
Working with African nations on diplomatic goals necessitates caution and conscience, especially – according to Ambassador Yates – because of “anti-western sentiment.” Indeed, past policies of American foreign policymakers drove a wedge of resentment between Africa and the United States. For example, when the United Nations deployed peacekeepers to the Democratic Republic of Congo, there was immense sexual abuse from the forces. As Ambassador Yates explains, the DRC already suffered from impunity and a lack of regulations toward sexual assault since “it’s hard to have command and control, especially when the host nation does not have the resources to supervise.” Yet, the abuse perpetrated by UN peacekeepers “was even worse than the local normalization of sexual assault because [the DRC’s] land was already attacked, but people supposed to protect them were hurting them.” When those sent to protect become the attackers and violators, then it represents not only a policy failure – but a moral travesty.
Success is elusive but possible. The Ambassador recalls when she maintained negotiations with the Burundi military general in the fight against East African terrorism. At first, “the Burundi military was this horrid force.” “But, when the AMISOM force was sent into Somalia to tackle Al-Shabaab, the Burundi military that we helped train became the toughest fighters. They were staving off Al-Shabaab from Mogadishu.”
Notably, the Ambassador recommends establishing connections and communication with young people, who constitute over 70% of the continental population. She specifically points to the 2019 protests in Sudan, where “young people led the protests and called for change.” At the time, Omar Al-Bashir led Sudan as a failed state of corruption, nepotism, and impunity. But, “the young people figured out that they must do something to make life better.” Currently, Sudan is under military government once again after a failed transition to civilian government, but the Ambassador believes that “civilian government will come.” Trusting that the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice, her faith remains steadfast in the young people: “This is far from over. In my heart, I have hope.”
Despite the power and galvanization of this growing demographic group, America has failed to reach out to the younger cohort. Ambassador Yates laments that “what we are saying is that we don’t want to deal with these people. We didn’t even have an ambassador. If you don’t talk to the people, how do you know what they want?” Specifically, the Ambassador prescribes a policy of cultural exchanges to promote understanding. “For 20 years, we didn’t allow them to come to America and study. We have to learn more about Sudan and they have to learn more about us.” Such exchanges are imperative because they establish soft power links, or mutual cultural and sociological values, between countries. In this regard, Ambassador Yates stated “I think that we have our Sudan policy upside down” because of the American refusal to engage. The impacts of this policy are detrimental to American foreign policy goals: “We didn’t allow them to come, so they went to Russia, China, and Arab countries because they were welcoming them.”
Prescription of such policies would create a double-effect: understanding of Americans among Africans and vice versa. Such cooperation seeks to benefit both the African continent and the United States with bilateral trade and investment. Foreign policymakers must heed these acknowledgments and understand the nuances and diversity of the African continent. If they succeed, fictional Wakanda may no longer receive more media coverage than 50 legitimate nations. Instead, the international community will treat the continent as its warranted title: the world's coming powerhouse.