The phrase "Make Africa Great Again" (MAGA) echoes the sentiment of restoring past glory and achieving future prosperity, drawing parallels with similar political slogans used globally. This article delves into the meaning of this phrase, examining its historical context, political interpretations, and potential impact on the continent's future.
While Donald Trump aggressively pursued his “America First” agenda, leaders like Ibrahim Traore are trying to re-write the rule books, both share to make their respective territories great. Trump wants to “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN” and Traore by extension wants to “MAKE AFRICA GREAT AGAIN”.
To understand the significance of this slogan, it's crucial to acknowledge Africa's rich history and potential.
Africa's Historical Identity
Up until the end of the medieval ages, many great Kingdoms flourished across the vast expanse of land called Africa. Once Upon a Time… Africa was Great. The impact of many ancient African civilizations can still be seen today in many shapes and forms around the world. It is true that Homo Sapiens is believed to have emerged from present day Ethiopia, making Africa the cradle of mankind.
The art of writing, the hieroglyphics, the giant pyramids of Giza, the complex temples and tombs in Luxor, the mathematics of geometry and algebra, and the art and science of embalmment are some of the amazing bequeaths of the ancient Egyptian history.
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Scholars and architects gravitated towards the Kingdom, and Timbuktu, its capital, emerged as a center of learning, commerce and architecture. The University of Timbuktu, one of the world’s earliest Universities, was built, and attracted many Arab scholars, such as AlSahiri, the poet and architect [Jeppie and Diagne (2008), Walt (2013)].
Yet another sign of greatness and exceptional advances in pre-colonial Africa was the ability of its leaders to move markets as illustrated during Mansa Musa’s stop-over in Cairo on his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324. The Arab historian, Shihab al-Umari, who visited Cairo 12 years after King Mansa Musa, wrote: “Mansa Musa left no emir or holder of royal office without a gift or load of gold; he and his company gave out so much gold that they depressed its value 7 in Egypt and caused price to fall”.
The Call for a New Approach
Some in Africa remain hopeful that the current administration represents a new chance to shatter vicious cycles that have stymied growth and engagement. That's why the advent of President Trump's diplomacy is a breath of fresh air, because I can say that it brings hope to the rest of the continent," Sako told Newsweek.
Under Trump, however, Sako said "we think that we have somebody now who can break away from those traditions, the traditional way of looking at things, and even listen and even have a conversation with this generation, not with the past generation."
The task is particularly urgent, he asserted, as "Africa is the future," given its unmatched reserves of human capital and natural resources that will come to define the dawning reality that is the nexus of supply chains and geopolitics.
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"The world of tomorrow is built on who has access and control of these resources, and what's the relationship of those who have access and those who have control," Sako said. "That is how it's going to be. So, America is losing on this."
Africa holds the keys to its own development. Whether the Trump administration slashes the aid budget or not, African governments must come to the realization that the continent’s prosperity is not primarily in the hands of White House officials.
Economic and Political Perspectives
Trump raises trade tariffs and Traore breaks the parasitic political and economic relationship between his country and some foreign investors, especially France. He seeks to replace alliances and relationships with new rules of engagements that are based on symbiosis, equality and mutual respect. Like Trump, is he not trying to MAKE (Burkina Faso) AFRICA GREAT AGAIN?
The demoralisation into low self-esteem of the African was deliberate. The systematic clandestine elimination of African Black Heroes, Pan Africanists, and Freedom fighters like Patrice Lumumba, Sankara, Samora Michel, Steve Biko, Diallo Telli, Nkrumah etc were purposefully orchestrated. The brainwashing and propaganda to demonise these leaders as demons, despots, autocrats, and undemocratic to unsuspecting Africans were implemented with surgical precision.
Africa's Role in the Global Landscape
Given the geopolitical stakes when one considers not just natural resources, but also demographic trends and security considerations, Africa’s strategic importance over the long term to the United States is perhaps not sufficiently appreciated," Pham said. "While, strictly speaking, we do not need Africa to make America great again, it will be a lot easier to achieve that goal in partnership with key African countries than without them.”
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Engagement with Africa may also contribute to Trump achieving his signature MAGA vision. As such, he argued that successful.
Trump must continue to engage Africa: The region is of paramount importance because of Western reliance on natural resources, trade, economic opportunities, and long-term security issues. In fact, American engagement in Africa largely serves American interests.
For example, creating African jobs is not just important for economic growth; it affects national and global security. Creating African jobs is not just important for economic growth; it affects national and global security.
Strategic needs should seize Africa's median age of 19 and its expansion of tech ecosystems align with America's AI leadership," he said.
Building The Post-Carbon African Future: Challenges and Opportunities
Addressing Challenges and Building Partnerships
While China, Russia, and other geopolitical competitors have made significant inroads in Africa, they may have also peaked," Pham said. "While that is no excuse for slacking on the part of American policymakers, it is also true that China’s own economic woes have meant that it no longer can simply throw money around. In fact, the flow of Chinese investment and concessionary loans to Africa today is barely half of what it was a decade ago."
"Likewise, while Russia exploited opportunities-some of them admittedly unforced blunders by Western governments, including the Biden administration-the Sahel regimes and other African countries have seen the very real limits of what the Wagner Group and its successors are able to achieve in terms of security," he added.
It's not just China that has accelerated inroads across Africa. Russia has set out to channel Soviet-era ties with a number of African nations to forge tighter partnerships based both on resources and defense as a number of countries grow disillusioned with Western security arrangements, particularly those with France.
African leaders increasingly prefer clear transactional relationships over conditional aid structures, with the recent DRC-Rwanda peace agreement representing this pragmatic approach," he said. "However, success requires recognizing African agency and not viewing them as just tools in a power competition."'Power, Prosperity, Peace and Principles'Trump's diplomatic intervention in securing a ceasefire between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda marked one of a series of peacemaking initiatives touted by the president as proof of his foreign policy success.
The Trump administration's transactional approach may actually align well with African leaders' preference for 'trade not aid' partnerships," Signé said. could establish regional processing hubs in Africa which would create jobs and better secure supply chains," Signé said.
The Path Forward
More than anything else, I think the challenge at this moment is for Washington to make clear why it is different from China and Russia, and why African countries should not elope with their current suitors," Obadare told Newsweek. is that a growing number of African countries are starting to sour on Russia and making overtures to the U.S and France behind the scenes," Obadare said. "Ultimately, the outcome of all this maneuvering will be determined less by Trump’s 'diplomatic style' and more by how successful Washington is in building rapport and offering tangible benefits and assurances."
Yet he identified two areas in which he felt the White House had yet to sufficiently outline its stance to the extent that it would rise to the level of the kind of groundbreaking diplomacy the president promised upon winning office a second time."First, it is not clear the extent to which it represents a continuation (or discontinuation?) of what he did during his first term under the auspices of 'Prosper Africa,' and I think not building on that or establishing that relationship is a critical mistake," Obadare said. "Second, Trump’s Africa strategy is 'underdeveloped' inasmuch as it remains untethered to any broader American foreign policy goals, historically speaking."
"Going forward, is America in it for business only?" he added.
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