First, let’s establish a set of facts. Africa has never been poor, and Africa never will be poor. European colonization restructured African economies to serve imperial interests, extracting resources like gold, rubber, and oil while dismantling local industries. Borders were drawn arbitrarily, often grouping rival communities or splitting unified ones, leading to long-term ethnic tensions and governance challenges. Education systems were designed to produce clerks and laborers, not innovators or leaders, reinforcing dependency. The main devils in the red, white, and blue dresses were and are the IMF and World Bank.
Let’s get started. Before European colonization of Africa, the continent was a region of immense diversity, politically astute, culturally hierarchical, and socially superior.
In pre-colonial African societies, Africa maintained an abundance of kingdoms and empires. Some included the Mali Empire, the Kingdom of Kongo, Great Zimbabwe, and the Ethiopian Empire, just to name a few. Africa maintained long periods of PEACE, stability, trade, prosperity, and flourishing cultures.
Traditional governance systems such as chieftaincies, councils of elders, and customary law helped maintain social order and resolve disputes. Africa was a utopia, but it had both peaceful coexistence and conflict. Some regions practiced conflict avoidance by migration or negotiation, especially where land was abundant. The arrival of European powers disrupted existing systems, imposed artificial borders, and introduced so-called Christianity, new forms of violence, and exploitation that reshaped the continent dramatically.
Peace isn’t necessarily the absence of conflict; however, African societies prevailed. Moreover, African societies had sophisticated ways of managing peacefully long before colonization. The introduction of European weapons into Africa, especially during and after colonization, has had profound and lasting effects on the continent’s economic dependency, social fragmentation, and political instability.
European powers supplied firearms to certain African groups to gain allies, suppress resistance, and fuel internal conflicts. This led to the militarization of local disputes, turning traditional rivalries into prolonged wars with devastating consequences. The influx of weapons disrupted indigenous systems of conflict resolution, replacing them with violent power struggles.
Europe successfully created dependency through militarization. Arms imports became a recurring expense for many African states, diverting funds from attaining food security, education, healthcare, and wide-ranging infrastructure. European countries and arms dealers/manufacturers maintained monopolies on advanced weaponry, forcing African nations to rely on them for military supplies and maintenance. The arms trade often came with political strings attached, reinforcing dependency through aid packages, military training, and debt arrangements.
The availability of European weapons contributed to the rise of military juntas and coups, especially in post-independence Africa. Armed forces, often trained and equipped by former colonial powers, became political actors, undermining democratic institutions. In countries like Sudan, Congo, the Sahel, and Mali, and others, repeated coups have been linked to militarized governance and external arms support.
Europe created further social fragmentation and violence by creating weapons-fueled ethnic conflicts, banditry, and extremist movements throughout Africa. Civilian access to small arms, intentionally left over from colonial stockpiles or illicit imports, often led to community-level violence, including gender-based violence and resource conflicts. The normalization of armed conflict has eroded trust in state institutions and deepened societal divisions.
Political instability discourages investment and development, which in turn increases poverty and fuels further conflict. Many African governments often prioritize military spending over social programs, hence reinforcing economic stagnation. External actors continue to supply weapons to both sides of each conflict under the guise of security assistance, perpetuating the cycle. Africans, true lovers of PEACE and tranquility, must realize that many times, “Smiling Faces Tell Lies.”
The “design” to continue the THEFT of Africa’s natural resources and enrich foreign powers and corporations’ assets isn’t just historical; it’s embedded in global systems of finance, trade, and diplomacy. But it’s not immutable. Across the continent, movements for economic sovereignty, pan-African solidarity, and cultural revival are challenging the status quo. This can be structured by establishing the African Minerals Alliance (AMA), which could regulate pricing, contracts, and the supply of all African resources. The goal is to demand fair market value globally…
As I close, I ask all Africans in the diaspora and African-descended people from around the world to join hands and support and replicate the selfless work and vision of Captain Ibrahim Traoré, President of Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso’s internal development is deeply intertwined with its efforts to manage displacement, rebuild infrastructure, and promote social harmony. This is An African Solution For And By An African Leader. We Africans Strong, Must Continue To Look Back As We Move Forward Together.