The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) expressed its concern in a article published on the Independent Online (IOL.co.za), which is one of South Africa’s leading news and information websites. In the article, “Online attacks target Muslims amid anti-immigrant sentiment in South Africa,” the group expressed its growing concern in what it describes as “a rise in Islamophobia on social media following efforts by members of the Muslim community to assist migrants who were allegedly displaced by xenophobic attacks, as well as the appointment of Yusuf Cassim as Deputy Minister of Higher Education.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s appointment of Yusuf Cassim as Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training has drawn much praise. It is the “criticism(s)” he received that “triggered” the increasing wave of Islamophobia.

Iqbal Jassat is executive member of the South Africa-based Media Review Network. He noted that “the increasing spread of anti-Muslim rhetoric (is) driven by online disinformation, political opportunism, and imported ideologies.” While the country claims a long history of religious tolerance, media narratives increasingly portray Muslims as “perpetual outsiders” regardless of their contributions to society and history of citizenship.

Another article of Independent Online titled, “Understanding Islamophobia in SA: Historical roots and current implications,” notes that “public figures and Muslim politicians frequently face targeted online campaigns aimed at questioning their patriotism and framing them as dangerous or foreign.” Even though Cassim has been called a “devout Muslim,” his swearing in as Deputy Minister triggered a wave of Islamophobia on social media.

Another example is that of Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman, head of the popular NGO (nongovernmental organization) “Give of the Givers.” Independent Online reported that for decades Sooliman was hailed across all sections of South African society “as a true patriot and champion of the underprivileged until he spoke out against the Israeli genocide, after which we saw coordinated attacks on his integrity, patriotism, motives, religion and the attempts to suggest that his funding came from ‘suspicious and tainted’ overseas funding.”

In the 2022 study: “Think-tanks and the news media’s contribution in the construction of Islamophobia in South Africa,” that was published on Manchesterhive.com, author Dr. Mohamed Natheem Hendricks, senior lecturer at University of Western Cape, noted that some of the country’s think-tanks and popular media outlets are contributing factors in Islamophobia.

According to Dr. Hendricks, “These actors are often complicit in representing African Muslims and Islam as sources of terror and terrorism.”

In the study he explains that think-tanks and the media manufacture terrorism knowledge and expertise in support of the so-called global “War on Terror” in ways that are consistent with western discourses on Islamophobia. “They represent Muslims’ identity in static and negative terms to exclude them from the constructed ‘we,’ using securitization theory as a theoretical lens he confirms that South African think-tanks and media have manufactured Muslims as a security threat and have created a climate of widespread fear of Muslims that has the potential to justify anti-Muslim racism or anti-Islamic prejudice—Islamophobia,” the study noted.

Dr. Faisal Suliman, chairperson of the South African Muslim Network, wrote on Independent Online that these patterns of social media messaging are not “organic but (are) coordinated, opportunistically riding on the wave of anti-immigrant, Afrophobic and xenophobic sentiments sweeping our country.”

He added, “We have noticed a clear pattern that the framing of Muslims as the other increased after Israel’s invasion and its genocide against the people of Gaza and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case against Israel.”

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi has warned that this is possibly a part of a foreign destabilization campaign. In a July 6 interview Minister Kubakyi gave to Thecommonsense.co.za, titled, “It’s an (Israeli) Plot, Claims Minister on Xenophobic Wave,” she linked recent protests in her country to South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). “That court case is huge on their (Israel’s) shoulders. And they will fight back in a manner that seeks to show South Africa is not a country with moral authority to advocate for human rights.”

While Minister Kubayi “stopped short of directly accusing Israel of being complicit in backing demonstrations and did not provide smoking gun evidence to support the allegation, the minister said it would be ‘naïve’ to assume that powerful global interests would not seek to weaken South Africa’s credibility on human rights issues, thus weakening its long running genocide claim against Israel,” reported The Voice of the Cape News.

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Malian government spokesperson Issa Ousmane Coulibaly said on July 10 that the West African nation would allow its ambassador to return to Algiers as part of measures aimed at the “renewal of relations of cooperation and friendship” with Algeria.

Bamako has also decided to reopen its national airspace to all civilian and military aircraft originating from or destined for Algeria, Coulibaly said in a statement.

Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune confirmed on July 11 that the country’s ambassador would return to Mali.

Tebboune said the decision reflected his “steadfast and resolute commitment to restoring Algerian-Malian relations to their natural historical trajectory, based on mutual respect,” according to a statement published by state news agency APS.

Relations between the two African nations  deteriorated  in  April  2025 after Algeria  said it had shot down a Malian surveillance drone for allegedly violating its airspace. Bamako rejected the accusation and said the aircraft was destroyed over Mali.

Tensions had been mounting since Mali withdrew from a 2015 peace agreement with northern separatist groups that was mediated by Algeria. The Malian authorities later accused Algiers of supporting armed groups, a claim the Algerian government denied.

The diplomatic fallout extended to Mali’s Alliance of Sahel States (AES) partners, Niger and Burkina Faso, which also recalled their ambassadors from Algeria during the dispute.

In recent months, however, Algeria has moved to repair ties with its southern neighbors. In February, Niger agreed with Algeria to restart work on the long-delayed Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline, a project designed to transport Nigerian gas through Niger and Algeria to Europe.

Algeria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, all former French colonies, have troubled relations with France due to alleged interference. The AES countries have accused Paris of failing to respect their sovereignty and supporting the militants behind a longstanding jihadist insurgency in the Sahel.

Algeria’s ties with Paris have also been strained by historical grievances, France’s position on Western Sahara and migration disputes. (RT.com)

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The African continent’s influence on the FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) World Cup in 2026 has grown from peripheral participation to a core structural and cultural force. The continent’s impact is most visible in the expanded 48-team format, where Africa secured an historic 10-team presence. Those teams included Algeria, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.

Nine of the continent’s 10 competing teams were among the last 32 teams, a historic achievement for African football (referred to as soccer in the U.S.) at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. This is where a record nine out of 10 competing African nations successfully advanced past the group stage into the Round of 32 knockout phase. When told about this fact after Algeria’s crucial draw against Austria, Tiyad Mahrez, who plays for the North African country, told The Atlantic, “That’s amazing. It shows the quality of African football, which is not always described as really good football, but it is. It’s difficult to play in Africa, but when you see nine out of 10 teams at the biggest tournament (going through), it shows a lot. I’m so pleased.”

At the time of this writing, two African nations remained, as Egypt and Morocco had successfully advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

From the outset of this year’s tournament, matches played by African teams upended expectations. According to Time.com, “Cape Verde, a nation of half a million playing in its first World Cup, held the reigning European champions, Spain, to a scoreless draw in Atlanta. Then, they took a point off Uruguay (another former World Cup Champion). Egypt led Belgium before holding on for a 1-1 draw, then beat New Zealand 3-1. Morocco, a semifinalist four years ago, drew with Brazil while outplaying them for long stretches, then dominated Scotland.”

The Time article continued, “And Folarin Balogun, born in New York to Nigerian parents, scored twice in the United States’ opening win, a reminder that African talent shapes this game far beyond the continent’s own teams. None of this is a fluke. It is the latest evidence of something the rest of the world has been slow to price in.”

Ivory Coast, recognized by FIFA as Côte d’Ivoire, has appeared on four occasions: 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2026. Nicknamed the Elephants and winning at the Africa Cup of Nations tournament three times, they got the job done, defeating Curaçao 2-0, guaranteeing their place in the knockout stages of the World Cup for the first time before losing in a competitive match against Norway.

The year 1934 marked Africa’s participation in the inaugural World Cup. Still under colonial rule, the continent sent Egypt across the Mediterranean to Italy to represent it. As Egypt was eliminated, according to ESPN, “amidst a cloud of injustice,” the continent would be denied participation for the next 40 years.

During the 1960s, as a movement for independence swept across Africa, FIFA ruled that “Africa, Asia, and Oceania would have to share a single qualifying spot for the 1966 World Cup,” reported the BBC. In response, 15 African nations staged a historic, continent-wide boycott of the tournament. “The continent, summoned by CAF (Confederation of African Football) President Abdel Aziz Moustafa, withdrew in protest, in a decision that reflected its intensifying emotional current,” noted ESPN.

Moustafa’s presidency led to greater FIFA recognition for Africa and to the successful advocacy for more World Cup slots for African nations, reported Pulse Sports.

Eventually, African talent in football (soccer) came to supplement European teams. There were years of expansion and European academies filled with African talent, and players starred for the world’s biggest clubs (teams).

“It was also in the 1990s that this trend of postcolonial immigration would leave its indelible mark on world football, as France lifted its first World Cup on home soil with a squad composed of several African-descended players like Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieira and Marcel Desailly. The team would be fondly called Black-Blanc-Beur (Black-White-Arab) in praise of its ethnic diversity, reported olayafrica.com.

In this 2026 World Cup, African-descended European players are among the most extraordinary talents on the pitch, but addressing the imbalance in African participation has potentially awakened a sleeping giant.

Examples of Africa’s ability to compete were evident in Cape Verde, which produced one of the biggest shocks in the competition’s history by drawing with the European champions, Spain, in their opening game. Ghana produced a disciplined performance to earn a point against England. South Africa recovered from a painful defeat to Mexico to finish second in their group and advance, The Athletic reported. The DR Congo, who, at their first World Cup, had a draw with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and also progressed as one of the best third-placed teams.

The growing participation of African nations in the World Cup has excited people on the continent.

Veron Mosengo Omba, the newly-elected president of the Congolese Football Federation and former general secretary of the Confederation of African Football, said the scenes had moved him: “Even in the occupied areas of eastern Congo, you see people coming out into the streets to dance. It’s incredible … What these young players have given us is an unexpected gift,” reported The Guardian.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix Tshisekedi struck a similar note, which speaks volumes for all of Africa. “Every victory, every flag raised, strengthens our pride, our national identity and the invisible foundations of our unity,” he said.

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The measure follows talks between the president and industrial and artisanal mining operators, as well as gold buying offices, on June 19, and takes effect immediately.

“Any operator who, after the expiry of this deadline, continues to export raw gold will have its license suspended, its mining agreement terminated, and will answer for its actions before Guinean justice,” Doumbouya warned, according to his office.

Guinea holds significant gold reserves and ranks as the sixth-largest producer in Africa, with production of 69.3 tons in 2025, according to the World Gold Council. The former French colony is also the world’s leading producer of bauxite, accounting for around 33.2% of global output in 2024, U.S. Geological Survey data shows.

President Mamadi Doumbouya said Guinea has “unfortunately been among the poorest nations in the world,” despite being “one of the richest lands in Africa.”

He said the country’s “gold leaves its soil every day in raw form, loaded onto planes, taken to foreign refineries to be processed” and sold elsewhere, while Guinea “receives crumbs.” 

“I put an end to this today. Guinean gold will be melted in Guinea, certified in Guinea, valued in Guinea before being exported to international markets,” he declared.

The government said the measure is designed to boost local value addition and accelerate industrialization in a country where mining remains the backbone of the economy.

Under the new framework, refining is expected to take place at the Nimba Gold Refinery in Gbessia, a state-backed facility in the capital, Conakry. The plant is expected to process up to 2,000 kg of gold per day and an estimated monthly capacity of 520 tons. It is designed to produce internationally certified bullion and handle industrial waste streams containing precious metals, according to the presidency.

Doumbouya, who first came to power in 2021 after a military takeover and later won the presidency in an election last December, has also tightened oversight of Guinea’s bauxite sector, revoking and reassigning mining concessions while pushing for greater local processing.

Similar policies have been rolled out elsewhere in Africa in recent years. Zimbabwe, the continent’s leading lithium producer, has restricted exports of unprocessed lithium concentrates, while Tanzania and Uganda have already banned exports of unrefined minerals and metals, including gold and copper.

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Dr. Sachs, who frequently appears on international media outlets, heavily criticizing mainstream Western news organizations and their biased, one-sided reporting, is an economist and public policy analyst, a professor at Columbia University, and the current director of the Center for Sustainable Development.

At the February summit, he warned that Africa must integrate its markets and become a singular geopolitical bloc. He stressed that Europeans and American colonial-era divisions leave the continent’s 55 countries fragmented and vulnerable, while a true union or integration of African nation-states unlocks the scale needed to compete and excel.

Integrating the trajectory of Africa’s population growth with “the most amazing acceleration of technological know-how in history,” Dr. Sachs projects that Africa’s population is so young that there is a tremendous population growth built into Africa till the end of the century. He calculates that “Africa’s population will be two and a half billion people at mid-century.”

Comparing Africa’s population growth to that of China and India, he said that by the end of the 21st century, China’s population will be under one billion, and India’s, he estimates, will stabilize at 1.7 billion. Dr. Sachs explained that according to him, “on the current extrapolation with a gradually declining fertility rate, Africa reaches about 3.7 billion people by the end of the 21st century, and that is about 35% (or one-third) of the world population.”

Everything has accelerated, he explained. “If you launch ChatGPT one month, within the next month there are 100 million users. Within six months, there are 500 million users. We’ve never had an uptake of technology at this speed in history. So, if this technological know-how is properly utilized, the ability of Africa to achieve what China achieved, double-digit growth for four decades, is absolutely realistic. This is the main point. Africa can achieve a dramatic advance,” he argued.

The entire African continent must be in learning mode, he pointed out. “This is a continent with a 19-year median age. Half the children are at school age. I mean half the population is at school age in this continent. Make sure they’re learning and then you transform your dreams into reality,” Dr. Sachs said.

Africa needs investment. “The most important (investment), every child on this continent should complete at least upper and secondary school with real learning,” he continued. Dr. Sachs explained that the continent as a unified body needs to “figure out how to do that.”

He also spoke on how electronic devices and technology can help in that effort, including having some classes online.

“It’s virtually free to do this. If you actually work out the capital costs, there should be no limits of teachers in rural areas or teachers that are under-qualified, or can’t do a math problem because we don’t need the traditional delivery as the only delivery of education right now. We’re in a digital world. You can leapfrog. Be creative. Be inventive. But take the basic idea. Don’t let the budget constraint stand in the way of universal quality education. It’s by far the number one resource of this continent and it’s growing very rapidly, and there is no demographic dividend of a young population if it is not educated. None at all. Only a burden,” he argued.

Another major investment is physical infrastructure. “That includes developing the power sector, the transport sector, the digital sector, social housing, water and sanitation, the key infrastructure. There needs to be an Africa-wide strategy that reaches down to every part of the continent,” he argued.

Dr. Sachs encouraged the energy or power sector to tap Africa’s wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal potential. “This continent has enough high-quality solar to power the entire world. As you know, we’ve all seen the ‘little box’ in the Sahara that has enough solar energy to power the entire world,” he said, referring to the Sahara Desert.

According to several published reports, the potential is limitless.

In a 2021 article in Forbes.com titled, “We Could Power The Entire World By Harnessing Solar Energy From 1% Of The Sahara,” it stated in part, “The Great Saharan Desert in Africa is 3.6 million square miles and is prime for solar power (more than 12 hours per day). That means 1.2% of the Sahara Desert is sufficient to cover all of the energy needs of the world in solar energy. There is no way coal, oil, wind, geothermal or nuclear can compete with this.”

The Sahara receives roughly enough sunlight in six hours to power on all of human civilization, for at least an entire year. Theoretically, this “box,” covering just 11.5 miles by 11.5 miles with high-efficiency solar panels, could meet the entire world’s electricity demand.

What will it take for Africa to achieve this kind of dynamism? According to Dr. Sachs, “Basically, be like China or be like India, unified, integrated structure, working on a continental scale economy with a continental scale policy and plan.”

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Historically, the occupier state of Israel has been on a so-called charm offensive focusing on the continent of Africa, whose 54 nation-states represent the UN’s largest voting bloc. Last year, 45% of UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions addressed crises in Africa.

Africa’s views of Israel are highly fragmented and are characterized by a complex mix of historical solidarity, economic pragmatism, and religious ties. While some countries on the continent actively deepen security and agricultural partnerships, others—most notably South Africa—view Israel’s policies in Gaza as severe human rights violations and have championed the Palestinian cause.

According to reporting from Al Jazeera, “African perspectives on Israel are deeply divided, reflecting a mix of strong diplomatic partnerships, religious ties, and vocal condemnations of the war in Gaza. While no African nation has officially cut all diplomatic ties (with Israel), continental opinions span from vehement opposition to pragmatic bilateral alliances.”

A June 4 Pew Research Center survey of global negative views of Israel has limited survey findings regarding the African continent. Africa, a continent with 54 nation states, is only represented in the survey by Nigeria as the one African country that was lumped in with others, including Australia, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom, in the category of very “unfavorable views” of Israel.

In another category in the Pew survey, “confidence in Netanyahu” included responses from Kenya and the Philippines. These, according to the Pew Center, are the only surveyed countries where more than half of the country’s public has “confidence in Netanyahu,” who is a global war criminal with an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the atrocities committed against the Palestinians in Gaza.

The Pew survey notes, “views of Israel are among the most positive in some of the sub-Saharan African countries surveyed.”

The occupier state is still working to embed itself more deeply into the African continent under the guise of security.

To give more context, South African governance analyst Dr. Reneva Fourie explained to Al Jazeera that by embedding itself into regional security structures, Israel gains allies who are less likely to challenge its military occupation. She explained that these so-called counterterrorism partnerships are used as a public relations tool to normalize Israel’s international standing while obfuscating the violence it inflicts upon Palestinians.

“These partnerships normalize Israel as a counterterrorism ally while deflecting attention from the fact that it is the perpetrator of state terror against Palestinians,” she noted.

“By embedding itself in African security structures, Israel not only profits from instability but also gains partners less likely to challenge its brutal military occupation and its genocidal atrocities,” she told Al Jazeera.

But even as the world watches in real time, Israel’s continued massacre of Palestinians and now the Lebanese people, the regime’s right-wing government continues to attempt to make more inroads in Africa.

Israel also has its sights on Sudan and is involved in the current war in the African country, and according to published reports, it represents an external, outside influence fueling the current conflict in Sudan. A headline from an op-ed published on the Middle East Monitor website notes, “Sudan crisis not accidental: Rogue regimes UAE (United Arab Emirates) and Israel complicit in the genocide.”

What is currently unfolding “extends to reshaping the balance of power in the Horn of Africa and not surprisingly involves Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE),” the Nov. 4, 2025, article noted. “Haaretz noted in August 2025 that Israel was exploiting Sudan’s war to justify military expansion in the Red Sea under the banner of ‘protecting global shipping lanes from Houthi threats,’’’ continued the article, referencing the Israel-based publication.

It is also being reported that Israel has leveraged the Sudan crisis to deepen its political footprint in Ethiopia and Eritrea, “as part of its broader plan to contain Iranian influence extending from Tehran to Sana’a and Khartoum,” the Middle East Monitor article continued.

Countries in Africa should proceed with caution when dealing with Israel and be careful about engaging in relationships under the guise of counterterrorism and security, as the Israeli regime continues to try to expand its footprint and influence in the region.

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Speaking at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, Hassan highlighted Africa’s growing demographic and economic weight.

“By 2050, one in four human beings on this planet will be African,” she said in her opening remarks. “Africa will be the only continent still adding workers to the global labor force on a large scale. Africa will host nine of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies.”

Hassan also pointed to the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area, saying that once fully implemented it would become the world’s largest market by population. The agreement, signed in 2018, seeks to create a continent-wide free trade zone by easing the movement of goods, services, and investment across all 55 African Union member states.

UN projections show the global population reaching 9.66 billion by 2050, with Africa accounting for roughly 2.5 billion people.

By contrast, populations in many other regions are expected to decline due to persistently low birth rates and aging societies. Europe’s population is projected to fall from around 744 million to 703 million in the same period.

According to UN data, fertility rates across Europe averaged about 1.4 births per woman in 2023, well below the replacement level of 2.1.

The trend has also become a major concern for Russia, where the fertility rate stood at 1.4 in 2024. In response, Moscow has introduced a range of measures aimed at boosting births, including direct payments to mothers, expanded maternity benefits, and additional financial support for families.

Starting June 8, Russia will also launch new tax relief programs for families with two or more children. (RT.com)

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In the 2026 media study, “Enabling Atrocity in the MENA (Middle East, North Africa) and Sudan: Sockpuppets, Bots and Digital Information Harm in Wartime,” Marc Owens Jones, an associate professor of media analytics at Northwestern University, who specializes in disinformation and digital authoritarianism, especially as it pertains to the Middle East, examined three distinct yet interconnected influence networks comprising thousands of fake social media accounts operating throughout Sudan and the wider MENA region.

Bots are computerized and sock puppets are people, but they serve basically the same purpose. They falsely inflate numbers and manipulate algorithms to make something, in this case war in Sudan, appear more or less popular than the conflict between rival factions actually is.

According to experts and observers who study content creators, reasons for developing content focuses in many cases, “by any means necessary,” to garner large numbers in order to get advertising deals and increase search algorithms. Add to that, political organizations want to drive voters and encourage or suppress certain viewpoints. Corporations want to drive their own advertising and media up the search results. Additionally, the external and internal political opponents want to sow division and propaganda. Ultimately, it’s all doing the same thing: manipulating the “algorithm” with fake accounts posing as real people to push some agenda.

Produced under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair on Data, Media and Society at the University of South Carolina, Professor Jones’ study notes that, “Rather than examining misinformation as isolated content, the report analyses how networked architectures of distribution, sock puppet networks, automated amplification, and platform affordances reshape what becomes visible in times of war.”

A perfect example of this was reported by the London-based Middle East Eye (MEE), which often frames stories from the perspective that is critical of official Western and Western-allied or slanted narratives.

For example, the host of MEE’s YouTube channel recently posed the question: “Why are United Arab Emirates (UAE) targeting Sudan online?”

Footage MEE shared included showing the taunting of Sudanese civilians by a RSF militia commander, who in a video clip is seen bragging about killing over 2,000 Sudanese civilians. What is horrifying, is that after his announcement, he’s seen in a subsequent video clip executing “civilians.”

In still another video clip a UAE citizen, speaking into the camera speaking of the consequences facing those who “do not respect” Mohammed bin Zayed, (President of the UAE).

And it’s not just the United Arab Emirates. Many Israeli accounts were also quick to chime in regarding Sudan having spent a long time pointing the finger at the African nation in order to deflect attention away from Israel’s own horrific actions in Gaza.

Accusations and evidence of the beginning of the RSF massacres in the capital city of El Fasher, in North Darfur state, emerged in October of 2025. And as UAE support for the paramilitary group received considerable media coverage, these media influencers and seemingly bots have tried shifting the blame to the SAF, and away from the RSF, and its mounting slaughter of Sudanese civilians.

And although the report doesn’t absolve the SAF of atrocities, in February of 2026, according to UN News: “the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan concluded that RSF operations during the late-October 2025 takeover of El Fasher bore the ‘hallmarks of genocide.’ The mission documented ethnically targeted killings, widespread sexual violence, enforced disappearances, and the deliberate imposition of life-threatening conditions against the Zaghawa and Fur communities, finding that genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference from the pattern, scale, and rhetoric of the violence.”

According to Jones’s report, more than 27,000 coordinated fake accounts have produced hundreds of thousands of posts in Arabic, English, Persian, Turkish and French. According to Jones, they have largely been promoting “anti-Islamist,” pro-RSF, and UAE- aligned political propaganda during Sudan’s civil and proxy war, helping misinform the public about atrocities and the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan.

“These influence networks function as tools of digital authoritarianism, deployed to manipulate perception, manufacture legitimacy, and overwhelm and confuse public discourse. Their harm lies both in the content they promote as well the deceptive means of distribution itself: coordinated sock puppet architectures that simulate authentic civic debate while operating in service of political agendas that run counter to human rights and the social good. They fundamentally undermine the free flow of credible information by crowding out legitimate news and also masking their source/agenda,” explained the report.

The report’s findings underscore the urgency for increased transparency, stronger platform accountability, multilingual enforcement capacity and sustained independent research when it comes to the continuing tragedy and atrocities facing the people of Sudan.

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Africa held continent-wide celebrations on May 25 to mark Africa Day 2026—the 63rd anniversary of an occasion dedicated to “unity, integration, and development.” 

It is a time of celebration, but as African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf stated on May 21 during a high-level security dialogue in Gabon, the continent must also adapt with unity and strategic clarity amid the shortcomings of multilateralism and an increasingly polarized global order.

Here, RT looks at the importance of Africa Day as well as the current context for this year’s festivities.

What happened on May 25?

For more than six decades, May 25 has been a day of reflection and commemoration. Each year, Africa Day celebrates independence and unity—but beneath the festivities lie unresolved questions about colonialism, slavery, and justice.

The continent reflects on both victories and ongoing struggles, including debates over reparations, and a spotlight on Africa’s role in a changing world order.

On May 25, 1963, 32 African leaders gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to establish the Organization of African Unity (OAU)—a landmark institution born from the struggle against colonialism and racial oppression.

Among those who helped lead the creation were Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Ethiopia’s Haile Selassie, who was elected the OAU’s first chairman at the founding summit, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, and Ahmed Sekou Toure of Guinea.

Their stated mission was to defend sovereignty, promote unity, and support nations still under colonial or minority rule.  While the OAU was succeeded by the African Union (AU) in 2002, Africa Day remains an annual marker of both independence and intercontinental solidarity.

Why does it matter today?

Today, the AU frames Africa Day with forward-looking themes—each year’s focus is a statement of political intent.

In 2026, the continent is marking the “Year of Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of  Agenda 2063.” According to the 55-member organization, millions across the continent still lack access to safe water and basic sanitation—a crisis that it said drains productivity and threatens food security and regional stability.

The continent faces escalating conflicts, including in Sudan, where a civil war that erupted in 2023 has killed thousands of civilians, ongoing violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and a sprawling jihadist insurgency across the Sahel—all of which worsen humanitarian strains.

Last year, the AU highlighted “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations,” a theme that forced global institutions to confront centuries of slavery and colonial exploitation. In March 2026, the UN formally declared the Transatlantic Slave Trade as “the gravest crime against humanity,” in a Ghana-led resolution backed by the AU.

How is Africa Day celebrated?

Across the continent, governments stage official ceremonies, policy announcements, and diplomatic meetings. Communities mark the day with music, dance, fashion, and food. Schools and universities host debates and exhibitions that connect Pan-African ideals to the AU’s long-term plans, including Agenda 2063.

In countries such as Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, the day is legally marked as a national public holiday. 

According to an AU program, this year’s commemoration—the 63rd anniversary of the OAU-AU—is being marked at the organization’s headquarters in Addis Ababa over three days, with sports events, cultural showcases, exhibitions, an official ceremony, and statements from dignitaries including the AU chairperson, Ethiopian representatives, and the dean of the diplomatic corps in Ethiopia.

Beyond the continent, Moscow has been holding official Africa Day receptions for at least the past two decades, amid Russia’s growing relations with African nations.

At last year’s event, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the date held “profound significance” not only for Africans, but “for all humanity,” describing it as a symbol of the continent’s struggle to overcome its colonial past and pursue freedom and justice.

What are the challenges that lie ahead?

Despite the festive trappings, Africa Day exposes fault lines, with the continent’s demands for global representation and historical redress still deeply contested. Its longstanding push for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council has yet to produce the reform African leaders have demanded.

AUC Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said last week that Africa was “not asking for a favor,” but demanding the correction of a “historical injustice,” arguing that the council’s credibility depends on whether it reflects today’s world rather than the geopolitical order of 1945.

Disagreements also persist over the practicality of reparations, the responsibility of modern states, and the lingering global inequities rooted in centuries of exploitation.

The U.S. has said it does not recognize a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs, while Britain and several other European states have resisted compensation demands over slavery and colonial-era abuses, arguing that present-day governments cannot be held legally liable for actions committed centuries ago.

Across the continent, leaders have continued to denounce neocolonial pressure, pointing to foreign military footprints, unequal financial structures, debt burdens, and external control over strategic resources as obstacles to full sovereignty.

In Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, France has lost its military presence amid allegations that it has been sponsoring militants behind the long-running jihadist insurgency in the Sahel. (RT.com)

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On November 18, 2012, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) President Sidumo Dlamini said, “greed,” or the wealth of the world being controlled by a few, is the root cause of the world’s economic instability. He said this while addressing the 47th National African Federated Chamber of Commerce Conference in Johannesburg. His 14-year-old remarks still ring true today.

“The current dominant world political and economic system is predicated on greed and is constructed by and on behalf of a tiny minority,” said the president of South Africa’s largest union. “Its primary purpose is to deliver profit for them.”

Dlamini explained that the vicious nature of the capitalist system scraps all “proposed alternatives” that take humanity into consideration, “in favor of those who present an opportunity to have capital continue to maximize profit even during the [world’s] worsening crisis.”

“Greed, for a lack of a better term, is good,” said the unscrupulous corporate raider played by Michael Douglas in the 1987 Oliver Stone movie “Wall Street.” What that fictional character did not say is that countless lives are sacrificed to make greed good for the few.

To provide insight into the above, we need only revisit the 2008 economic crisis, which led to the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market and the reversal of the housing boom in other industrialized economies. According to Dlamini, “when we could see levels of poverty increasing, people being retrenched, and when all of us were made to carry our hands on our heads about the big economic crisis, evidence shows that during that period the world’s billionaires saw their wealth grow by 50 percent, and their ranks swell to 1,011 from 793.”

During the same period, the number of U.S. billionaires grew from 359 to 403.

The 1,011 billionaires’ combined net worth increased to $3.6 trillion, “up,” Dlamini explained, adding “$1.2 trillion from the year before.” Each billionaire, on average, had his or her wealth increased by $500 million. According to Dlamini, “The wealth of the 403 U.S. billionaires [could have] more than cover[ed] the 2008 U.S. federal deficit, with money left over for the states.”

As of March 2026, the world community includes a record 3,428 billionaires, according to the 2026 Forbes World’s Billionaires List. This marks a significant increase from previous years, with these individuals residing in over 80 countries. More than enough to pay off the economic costs being incurred by the consequences of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war against Iran.

This global greed, particularly by Global North countries, has also impacted the African continent.

“When African countries got independence, they inherited the colonial power structures of the colonizers without fundamentally altering them, thus perpetuating the dominance of capitalism to the detriment of the masses: the urban poor and peasantry,” explained Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza, a barrister, journalist and social media content professional in his 2023 commentary “Africa Shouldn’t Listen to the International Community.”

Economist, Dr. Ndongo Samba Sylla, the Senegalese head of research and policy for Africa at International Development Economics Associates, has often analyzed “greed” not merely as a personal vice, but as a structural, institutionalized component of the global financial system that perpetuates inequality and colonial-style exploitation.

In his book, “Africa’s Last Colonial Currency: The CFA Franc Story,” co-authored with journalist Fanny Pigeaud, they argue that the CFA Franc acts as a neocolonial tool that extracts wealth from so-called Francophone Africa. They outline how this monetary arrangement hinders economic sovereignty, perpetuates underdevelopment, and subordinates African nation-states to European financial policies and French geopolitical interests.

“Over forty years after the formal end of colonialism, suffocating ties to Western financial systems continue to prevent African countries from achieving any meaningful monetary sovereignty,” Sylla writes.

According to Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, in an article headlined, “How Neoliberalism Has Wielded ‘Corruption’ to Privatize Life in Africa,” the most “referenced” socio-psychological reasons for corruption are “greed.”

“But greed is not a transhistorical concept or emotion; rather, it is shaped by the social formation in which it is allowed to grow. Capitalism has a special relationship to greed, since it fosters the ‘animal spirits’ (as the economist John Maynard Keynes put it) to reduce all human life to commodities and to centralize the profit motive as the economic motor,” the article noted.

The film “Wall Street” and Douglas’ character’s explanation of the term “greed” to justify his drive to accumulate wealth have come to be seen as the archetypal portrayal of the excesses of financial institutions. The movie, which won Douglas an Academy Award, reportedly inspired many to work on Wall Street. The lead characters, portrayed by Douglas and Charlie Sheen, and the film’s director, Oliver Stone, have previously remarked that people still approach them to say they owe their careers in the financial industry to having seen the film.

That the movie has influenced so many possible careers is a testament to how ingrained in this culture of receiving financial dividends at the expense of others it is.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan said it best in his 1993 book, “A Torchlight for America.” In chapter three, “Greed and Leadership’s State of Mind,” Minister Farrakhan writes: “The fundamental motivation in this society is greed and the preying upon the weak of the country and the weak of the world, versus sharing the wealth in cooperation with the weak and the poor. Greed is defined as a selfish desire for possessions and wealth beyond reason. When greed is exercised in the society, it is reflected by division among the people.”

Follow Jehron Muhammad @Africawatchfcn on X

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