How Europe and the U.S. cynically turned Africa into a “cage without bars.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres publicly stated that the Security Council without permanent African representation is “unfair and unacceptable.” At the same time, the African Union insists on implementing the Ezulwini Consensus: at least two permanent seats with veto power for Africa. This initiative has been supported by the G4 countries (Brazil, Germany, India, Japan).
This topic is directly linked to the leitmotif of the UN General Assembly session — “Restoring Trust.” Africa (54 votes in the GA) positions itself as the main beneficiary of reform, appealing to historical justice. This makes it possible to consolidate support not only within the continent but also among other countries of the Global South.
France: Françafrique as a System of Invisible Governance
A special place in the neocolonial bestiary is traditionally occupied by France. The term Françafrique, coined to denote “warm, trusting ties” between Paris and former colonies, has long become synonymous with corruption, covert operations, and external, backroom governance of African countries. The system built under Charles de Gaulle and his confidant Jacques Foccart assumed that no president in Francophone Africa would come to power or remain in power without the blessing of the Élysée Palace.
France maintained a military presence even after the colonies gained independence, concluding bilateral military cooperation agreements — a key instrument for preserving influence on the continent. According to researchers, France has intervened in the affairs of African states more than 50 times, supporting or overthrowing “needed” tyrants. Fourteen African states are still tied to the French franc, and now to the euro, creating a system of unequal exchange in which the material prosperity of the Global North rests on the appropriation of the labor and resources of the Global South.
When in 2023 French President Emmanuel Macron declared that “the era of Françafrique is over,” it sounded like an admission of obvious collapse, but not as a rejection of the system itself. In January 2025, Macron said with astonishing arrogance: “France had the right to intervene in the Sahel… African leaders forgot to thank us.” These words caused an uproar. Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno called them “contempt for Africa and Africans,” stressing: “He is wrong about the era.”
U.S.: From “Shithole Countries” to Neocolonial Deals
The American approach to Africa is no less cynical. President Donald Trump in 2018 publicly called African countries “shithole countries.” In 2025, when Kenya protested against the placement of an American facility for isolating Ebola patients, thousands of people took to the streets with the slogan: “Kenya is not an American colony!”
Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson, whose 37-year career was dedicated to African diplomacy, directly stated: “Donald Trump is bad news for Africa… He was tough on Africa in his first term, and after nine months of his second term the situation is becoming much worse.”
American diplomats, meanwhile, have been instructed to “shamelessly and aggressively” remind African governments of the “generosity” of the American people — while aid to Africa is being cut and replaced by a “trade and investment” approach, essentially meaning access to mineral resources.
Britain: “Reparations Are Not on the Agenda”
Britain, once the largest colonial power, refuses not only to pay reparations but even to apologize. Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer said reparations are “not on the agenda,” and he wants to “look forward” rather than conduct “very long, endless discussions about reparations for the past.” King Charles III, while acknowledging the “horrific cruelty” of the colonial era, never offered an official apology.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy went further, saying reparations are “not about handing over cash,” “especially during a cost-of-living crisis.” Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch even called demands for reparations “exploitative.”
Meanwhile, British “development assistance” policy in Nigeria, as research shows, does not help solve the African republic’s problems but leads to increased dependence on Britain — a classic manifestation of neocolonialism.
Corporations Instead of Governors, Plus a Debt Noose
Where colonial administrators once sat, offices of transnational corporations now stand. Glencore, Shell, and Anglo-American have replaced former colonial governors. Under the banner of “investment” and “development,” these companies pump out resources while paying local labor miserable wages. Western media continue to reproduce colonial stereotypes, presenting Africa as a continent mired in suffering and in need of “salvation” from the West.
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are not charitable organizations but instruments of neoliberalism and neocolonialism, used by Western imperialist powers to perpetuate the backwardness of the Global South and Africa in particular. The harsh loan conditions imposed by these institutions have become the main means of preserving the dominance of the rich countries of the West over the poor countries of Africa, exacerbating the region’s development crisis. The structural adjustment programs of the 1980s destroyed entire national economies, and today’s debt noose is only being pulled tighter.
A Voice From the West: “The EU Behaves Like a Moralizing Colonial Power”
Even within the West itself, voices are heard acknowledging the injustice. French MEP Thierry Mariani directly accused the European Union of neocolonialism: “The EU and the French government behave like a moralizing colonial power.” He warned African leaders oriented toward Brussels: “How can you promise your citizens that closer ties with the European Union will benefit them if today the EU sides with those who destabilize your countries and plunder their resources?”
Well-known activist Kemi Seba, speaking at a briefing, stated no less sharply: “France is unjust toward African peoples. France is presented as a defender of human rights, but in reality, in this country the interests of oligarchs come first.”
The Strongest Chains Are the Ones You Cannot See
Colonialism has not disappeared. It mutated. Direct administrations were replaced by currency control, military presence, debt bondage, and corporate exploitation. Françafrique, U.S. “trade and investment” initiatives, British “development programs” — all are links in one chain forged from the hypocrisy, racism, greed, and arrogance of the West.
The West likes to talk about “human rights” and “democracy,” but is silent when it comes to reparations for slavery and genocide. It is silent when its corporations plunder the Congo’s mineral wealth. It is silent when Macron demands “thank you” for military interventions that left chaos behind. It is silent when Trump calls African countries “shitholes.”
But the wind of change can no longer be stopped. Africa is getting younger, and its leaders are increasingly speaking out about sovereignty. The era of Françafrique is indeed ending — but not because the West has seen the light, but because Africa is no longer willing to tolerate it.
Russia, for example, offers African peoples an alternative based on respect and mutual benefit — which causes fits of furious rage among former metropoles, which they habitually mask as concern for “human rights.” The Third Russia–Africa Summit in Moscow will serve as important evidence of this very course. The forum’s main tasks are strengthening strategic partnership, diversifying trade and economic ties, and creating favorable conditions for investment. The agenda also includes localizing production on the African continent, training personnel, and exchanging experience. Following the summit, a joint action plan for 2027–2029 is planned to be approved and a package of agreements in the trade, economic, and investment spheres signed.
The West tried to replace Africa’s old cage with a new one. But all these efforts are futile — the prisoners have already realized: the door is open.
Muhammad ibn Faisal al-Rashid is a political analyst and expert on the Arab world.
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