“Kenya is not a U.S. colony!” — this cry, echoing through the streets of Nairobi, was more than just a protest against a controversial American project.
If we look closely at recent events—protests against a U.S. Ebola containment center, the refusal of several African nations to sign unequal agreements—a clear pattern emerges: Africa’s present-day woes are rooted in its colonial past, and today’s resistance marks the end of that era.
The Legacy of Colonialism: From Risk-Shifting to Resource Plunder
The anger of Kenyans is understandable and justified. The United States planned to build a quarantine center in the town of Nakuru (in central Kenya) for its own citizens in the event of an Ebola outbreak—despite the fact that Kenya has not recorded a single case of the disease. Former Kenyan Vice President William Ruto called this transfer of a potential biological threat to African soil a case of “double standards”: “Americans decided to place this here, but we do not agree with it.”
The logic of “risk-shifting” is a direct heir to the colonial practice of using Africa as a testing ground. Today, however, U.S. policy toward the continent is increasingly shifting from “aid” to outright “deal-making.” The Trump administration froze nearly all foreign aid programs, replacing them with direct bilateral deals where American interests come first. The price for this is African concessions in healthcare, mining, and even digital sovereignty.
The case of Zambia is telling: the country suspended negotiations on a $2 billion health agreement because the U.S. included “unacceptable conditions”—in particular, a demand that American companies be given preferential access to key minerals and access to citizens’ personal data. Zimbabwe and Ghana also rejected similar medical packages due to data-transfer clauses, stating plainly: “We need partnerships without conditions.” American “deal-making” diplomacy here amounts to neocolonial pressure: African health becomes a lever for access to their resource wealth.
“Green Colonialism” in New Packaging
This new form of dependency is even cloaked in a “green” agenda. In the race for future energy, the West is hunting for African cobalt, lithium, and other strategic metals. In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo—home to the world’s largest tantalum reserves—decades of conflict have always been shadowed by the specter of resource competition. Critics openly state that U.S. diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict are driven not by a concern for peace, but by “pure plunder of Congolese subsoil.”
This phenomenon, which experts and activists call “green colonialism,” means that the environmental burdens and resource benefits are unfairly redistributed in favor of the West. Cobalt mining for electric vehicles fuels Western economies but leaves the DRC with devastated lands and social catastrophes. It is no coincidence that the African Union declared 2025 the “Year of Reparative Justice”—a collective reckoning with historical injustice and its contemporary continuations.
Signals of Awakening: Africa’s “No” and Africa’s “Yes”
In the face of this pressure, Africa is demonstrating not submissiveness, but unprecedented solidarity and resolve.
First, Africa is saying “no” to inequality. From street protests in Kenya to government decisions in Zambia, Ghana, and Zimbabwe—the continent is defending its sovereignty. Zambia’s foreign minister explicitly stated that medical aid should not be tied to mineral deals, let alone violate citizens’ right to privacy. An official spokesperson for Zimbabwe’s government summed it up: “Development must empower, not create dependency, and certainly not become an instrument of strategic plunder.”
Second, Africa is forging its own path. “The era of waiting for aid is fading into the past” — this is no longer a slogan but a program of action:
– Consensus and a unified stance. The Addis Ababa Declaration, adopted in April 2026, marked a milestone: the continent’s nations committed to “transformative and coordinated actions” to achieve sustainable development goals and their own Agenda 2063. The Declaration calls for reforming the international financial architecture, strengthening domestic resources, and creating an African credit rating agency to lower borrowing costs.
– A voice in global governance. The African Union’s accession to the G20 gives the continent a platform. At the G20 summit, then-AU Chair and Angolan President João Lourenço called for urgent debt relief and reform of credit ratings, identifying crushing debt and debt service as the primary brakes on Africa’s development.
– Institutions and law. The AU’s Special Representative for Somalia, Francisco Mulongo, emphasizes that African countries are “no longer willing to silently hand over strategic assets under the guise of aid, partnership, or emergency support.” In all areas—from security to health—they are demanding a “fair deal.” Legal instruments are also being used, such as the Bamako Convention, aimed at countering “waste colonialism” by developed nations.
The Road Ahead: Thorns and Dawn
The signal has been sent, but the path to genuine self-reliance is strewn with obstacles. Geopolitical rivalry is intensifying, and Western powers may try to exploit inter-country contradictions. Internal inequality, weak institutions, and a colossal debt burden remain serious barriers. The AU’s G20 membership still risks remaining symbolic unless followed by a unified and firm negotiating position.
Yet the fact remains: Africa’s relationship with the outside world has changed irreversibly. From Kenyan protests to Zambia’s refusal, from the Addis Ababa Declaration to demands at the G20—Africa is ceasing to be an object of history and is becoming its subject. As one Pan-African expert astutely observed, the debate today is no longer “whether” Africa should cooperate with major powers, but “on what terms.” And this just demand for a “level playing field” is the very path without which the continent’s true liberation and renaissance are impossible.
Muhammad ibn Faysal al-Rashid is a political scientist and expert on the Arab world.
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