The choice of capital city Nairobi was not incidental.

This marked the first time a France-Africa summit was co-hosted and held in an Anglophone (English-speaking) African nation rather than a traditionally Francophone (French-speaking) country on the continent. The summit came amid France’s diminishing ties with its former African colonies but as Kenya is seeking increased trade.

In advance of the summit, Macron told Paris-based magazine “The Africa Report” that colonialism could no longer be blamed for all of Africa’s challenges. “We must not exonerate from all responsibility the seven decades that followed independence,” he said. He called on African leaders to improve governance.

This condescending remark was not the only controversial thing the French president stated.

According to Ghana’s online news portal, Modernghana.com, Macron made another declaration that sparked debate. “Standing alongside Kenyan President William Ruto at a press conference on the eve of the Africa Forward Summit, French President Emmanuel Macron looked into the lenses of the world’s media and made a declaration that would ignite a continent,” reported Modernghana.com.

According to the outlet, Macron claimed, “We are the true Pan-Africanists.” The French president, with his country’s history of colonialism and the post-colonial blemish of Africa’s last colonial currency, the CFA Franc, added, “We believe that Africa is a continent, and that this continent has an enormous amount to build.”

Within hours, his comments went viral. “For millions of Africans who know their history who know what France spent three centuries doing on the African continent the claim was not simply debatable. It was breathtaking in its audacity.

And what followed both in the streets of Nairobi and on social media platforms across Africa and its diaspora was one of the most pointed, passionate, and historically grounded conversations about France’s relationship with Africa that the continent has had in a generation,” noted Modernghana.com.

Togolese human rights activist Farida Bemba Nabourema responded in a scathing open letter to Macron titled, “You Are Not A Panafricanist and Can Never Be!”

In it, she took Macron to task recounting France’s colonialist past. She recounted France’s horrific history that began on the continent of Africa. “Pan-Africanism was not born in Paris. It was not theorized in the corridors of sciences or the salons of the Fifth Republic.

It was born in the holds of slave ships, in the plantation fields of Saint-Domingue in the exile of men and women whom your republic and its predecessors hunted, poisoned, shot, disappeared and buried in unmarked graves precisely because they had the temerity to believe that African and African-descended people deserved to govern themselves,” she wrote.

“Pan-Africanism is, at its most fundamental, the political philosophy that said no to everything France spent three centuries saying yes to: slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism.

It is the intellectual and organizational tradition built in direct and irreconcilable opposition to the project your nation prosecuted across this continent with a consistency and a brutality that your current rhetorical repositioning cannot retroactively launder.”

Nabourema’s response was not the first time Macron has been confronted with response by Africans on France’s colonial history and its impact.

In October of 2021 Macron hosted a summit in Montpellier, France. No heads of state were invited, but reportedly thousands of young Africans, including artists, athletes, and businesspeople attended. According to Theelephant.com, an online outlet that provides analysis on the continent, the purpose of the 2021 gathering was, “To demonstrate a ‘new’ France-Africa relationship, built on listening to youth.”

At the summit Kenyan radio personality and social activist Adelle Onyango addressed the audience in which Macron was a part of. “We as Africans feel the pain of colonization every single day. The lack of a clear and strong acknowledgement of the continent’s pain on this destructive past results in skepticism.

What we end up with is skepticism of what exactly does France stand for. … In fact, the air of denial that France chooses to sit in is uncomfortable, not only for Africa but also for France, and it does no good for either one of us. How can you trust the source of your pain when the source doesn’t acknowledge it?” she said, reported Theelephant.com.

Macron’s real quest is in reinventing the colonial narrative. His goal is to stay connected by any means necessary, to a continent that is awakening to its history of being subjected to the Global North, including French imperialism.

Additionally, there are media reports that point out that France’s new African initiative, may have more to do with its current economic situation. France may not currently be collapsing economically, but as the world’s seventh largest economy, it faces a severe fiscal and political strain, driven by mounting public debt, high government spending, and a persistent budget deficit.

John Ryan is an economist and a Network Research Fellow at CESifo, Munich. He noted, in an article published on the website of the London School of Economics website (LSE), that France’s debt metrics are abysmal and he writes in part that France’s “External debt stands at approximately $7.7 trillion, equivalent to around 248 percent of GDP, while total debt across the economy is close to 319 percent of GDP.”

In Dr. Ndongo Sylla’s book, “Africa’s Last Colonial Currency: The CFA Franc Story,” co-authored by journalist Fanny Pigeaud, they argue that the CFA Franc continues to act as a neocolonial tool that extracts wealth from Africa’s Francophone countries.

They outline how this monetary arrangement hinders economic sovereignty, perpetuates underdevelopment, and subordinates African nation-states to European financial policies and French geopolitical interests.

The question Africa has to ask is: Does the continent with its significant mineral wealth want to continue to tie itself to a former colonial master during a time of its severe fiscal and political crises? Follow Jehron Muhammad @africawatchfcn on X

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The four countries together represent over two-thirds of the world’s global cocoa production. At the recent Cocoa Value Addition Summit 2026, in Abuja, Nigeria, they declared that establishing this new agreement has the potential to coordinate policies, promote local cocoa processing, bring production standards into harmony, and strengthen the continent of  Africa’s bargaining power in the global cocoa industry.

Cocoa is a seed from the Theobroma Cacao Tree and is the primary or essential raw material in the making of chocolate. According to confectioneryproduction.com, the world’s demand for chocolate has developed into a $150 billion industry

“with African countries supplying over 70% of the cocoa for it—yet its farming communities reportedly gain no more than between 5-10% of that overall value, due to the longstanding supply chain system that has seen the majority of profits returned to largely European-based processing facilities and corporations.”

“Value added” is simply the addition given to raw material by processing it before selling it abroad. In Walter Rodney’s book, “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa,” he explains how Europeans and Americans have a history of undervaluing Africa’s substantial mineral wealth by exporting raw material and processing it abroad.

This is the ultimate form of exploitation, and the primary hallmark of the capitalist imperialist economic system, Dr. Rodney points out. Throughout the book, one of Dr. Rodney’s main arguments is that through this exploitation, Africa developed Europe at the same rate that Europe underdeveloped Africa.

Perhaps this agreement between Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast will be a step toward the West African nation breaking off this European and American exploitation.

According to Nigeria’s Punch Newspaper, in speaking in advance of the July 14, Cocoa Value Addition Summit, Senator John Owan Enoh, who is the Minister of State for Industry in Nigeria, said African cocoa-producing countries were determined to change a century-old trade model that has left producing nations with little economic value despite supplying most of the world’s cocoa.

“For a hundred years, Africa has sent its cocoa to the world in sacks and received it back in wrappers, paying at both ends of the transaction,” said Senator Enoh, the outlet reported.

“The distance between a bean and a brand is measured in jobs and in dignity, and on July 14, in Abuja, four nations begin closing that distance together. We do not gather to lament the market. We gather to redesign our place in it,” the senator who is also a cocoa farmer said.

During the summit sponsored by the Nigerian government, the country’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, unveiled a “far-reaching” plan designed to enhance the country and wider regions of cocoa production to retain a greater share of its overall commercial value, noted confectioneryproduction.com.

The president was represented at the summit by his Minister of Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari. The theme of the summit was “From Bean to Brand: The Bean in My Hand, The Brand in Our Future.” 

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security noted that Kyari pointed out that “Nigeria is shifting from exporting raw cocoa to processing it domestically, to create jobs, attract investments and earn more foreign exchange from (the) cocoa sub-sector.”

He added that “Seven of every ten cocoa pods on this earth ripen under the African sun. They are grown by African hands-on African soil with African knowledge passed down through generations, and yet of a global chocolate economy now valued at well over $130 billion and by some recent estimates approaching $165 billion,’’ reported Agriculture.gov.ng.

“We will grind our beans at home, we will press our butter at home, we will make our chocolate at home, brand it at home and sell it to the world on our own terms.’’ 

During the summit, participants received updates on the construction of what is expected to become Nigeria’s largest cocoa processing facility, a 70,000-metric-ton processing plant being developed by Sunbeth Global Concepts in Sagamu, Ogun State, which is scheduled for commissioning in 2027.

In addition, the Ghanaian news site Pulse reported that the country is set to join Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Cameroon in a landmark agreement aimed at transforming Africa’s cocoa industry by increasing local processing, strengthening the continent’s bargaining power and reducing its dependence on exporting raw cocoa beans.

According to Brandspur Brand News, “Nigeria will also sign a separate Cocoa Value Addition Accord with cocoa-producing state governments, farmers’ associations, processors, researchers and development finance institutions.

The agreement is expected to drive investment across the cocoa value chain, expand domestic processing capacity and improve earnings for cocoa farmers through coordinated implementation.”

Later this year on October 7-8, Nigeria will host the Africa Cocoa and Coffee Conference. It will convene an unprecedented assembly of cocoa and coffee stakeholders across the full value chains—farmers, cooperatives, processors, roasters, exporters, researchers, policymakers, development finance institutions, and multilateral organizations—to drive concrete action on the most urgent challenges and opportunities facing Africa’s cocoa and coffee sectors.

The conference is presented by the Cocoa and Coffee Farmers Alliance Association of Africa (COCEFAAA) in partnership with the Federal Ministry of  Agriculture and the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria.

Follow Jehron Muhammad @africawatchfcn on X

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Of Uganda’s 20 confirmed cases, 15 were imported from neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), while five were locally acquired, the Ugandan government has said. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported no new infections after June 21 and said 18 patients recovered, with four health workers among those        infected.

The epidemic remains active in DR Congo, where the Health Ministry reported 3,262 confirmed infections and 1,437 deaths as of July 28. Nearly 90% of cases have been recorded in war-torn Ituri Province, which borders Uganda and South Sudan.

In a statement published on X, the East African country’s Health Minister Chris Baryomunsi said “Uganda is officially Ebola free” after the last patient with a locally transmitted infection was discharged on June 16.

“Unlike previous Ebola outbreaks that informed the current 42-day declaration policy, Uganda’s 2026 Ebola outbreak arose from a fully documented importation event,” he stated.

In a separate statement cited by Reuters, Baryomunsi said the declaration followed the “successful completion” of 42 days of monitoring that began upon the patient’s discharge.

The WHO, however, said Uganda’s 42-day countdown should have begun on July 16 after the last confirmed patient tested negative twice and was discharged. The agency said the outbreak could be declared over if no new cases emerged during that period.

Uganda has experienced several Ebola outbreaks since its first recorded epidemic in 2000, which infected 425 people and killed 224. Its previous outbreak, caused by the Sudan virus, ended in April 2025 after 14 confirmed probable cases and four deaths.

The Health Ministry has said the latest outbreak differed from previous epidemics because the source and route of the imported infections were known. It added that all “transmission chains were completely characterized and reconstructed, and all identified contacts were institutionally quarantined and completed the mandatory 21-day follow-up without evidence of further transmission.”             (RT.com)

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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.

Follow Jehron Muhammad @Africawatchfcn on X

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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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