Africa's Enemies and Fake Friends
After centuries of international exploitation, Africans are rightly wary of hidden agendas
A few weeks ago, I started following an Instagram page called african_stream. What intrigued me about this page was a post that was similar to a post we at the Institute for Black Solidarity made on our Instagram stories, which was a clip of President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana addressing President Macron of France during a press conference in Accra, Ghana in 2017. President Akufo-Addo had this to say:
We can no longer continue to make policy for ourselves, in our country, in our region, in our continent, on the basis of whatever support the Western world or France can give us. It will not work…
This came as a surprise to President Macron, as he visibly turned his head quickly toward President Akufo-Addo, then looked straight ahead frustratingly.
Seeing African leaders take steps toward creating an Africa that can stand on her own two feet is something worth celebrating, especially for us at IBSI. We’ve addressed this several times in previous articles, The New Africa-Israel Alliance and Africa is Indeed Rising.
However, this particular Instagram page seems to have more of its own agenda than one that reflects most of the continent.
Last week, the page posted a video promoting China’s relationship with Africa. The video was of former Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis. Varoufakis was explaining how Beijing opts for soft power and not brute force. Someone in the audience had expressed concern for China taking over ports and structures in Africa as a result of giving out massive loans that cannot be paid back, and Varoufakis’ argument, in a nutshell, was “What’s wrong with that?”
Greece’s former finance minister argued that what China is doing is ultimately good for Africa, and much better than the West’s approach over the years which has included toppling leaders and leaving countries to fester and descend further into poverty and violence. He explained that what China is doing is opting for ‘soft power,’ which, in his view, is much more admirable and beneficial for Africa.
Varoufakis’ opinion is just that; an opinion. Since the Instagram page has over 500,000 followers, I wanted to see how the post was received in the comment section. What I noticed was two things:
A significant number of Africans strongly disagree with the video
One singular account responded to as many dissenting comments as possible
The comments on the video ranged from partial agreement to full-out disagreement, with only a small number of affirming comments. What struck me the most was the particular account that responded to virtually every comment that did not pledge its allegiance to China. This person responding to every comment was neither African on the continent nor in the diaspora. This person appeared to be an Arab Palestinian; an account by the name of @jagpile was attempting to demean, belittle, and dismiss every comment that did not agree that China is the good guy. Even comments that voiced the opinion that China would be a better partner than the West were met with pushback from this account if they also stated that China still is not to be trusted. These are Africans having discussions about what is happening on their continent, and this non-African is going after them as if he has a personal stake in the discussion.
Continuing to scroll, I found some who agreed and many who disagreed with the original post, but then I found this comment:
This is definitely a propaganda page. I had my [suspicions] but this confirms it. It’s no secret that the African countries China invests in are plentiful in natural resources, and as collateral for defaulting on its debt to China, cede control to the Chinese. More than 22 African countries asked for relief of their debt to China. That’s a simple google search. If you think China is giving away billions, as this guy would have you believe, then this propaganda page is successful. Ask Madagascar who controls their timber and fishing industries now. Ask Sri Lanka why China has a 99 year lease on their bridge/port. Ask Djibouti if China has a military base on its soil. Ask Jamaica who owns 100% of the Kingston Freeport terminal. When you loan a nation money that [dwarfs] their GDP, you are bound to default. In exchange, you give up the very thing China wanted to begin with - copper, cobalt, iron, ports etc. You don’t have to like the West but you can’t be naive to the East.
I was encouraged to see that in these very crucial discussions that Africans are having about the future of their beloved continent, many of them see past the fake friends who only want them for their African voice. As particularly young African leaders strive to turn their respective countries into ones that are not so dependent on and influenced by the West, many of them recognize who their real allies are, and who they are not.
After my own Instagram debate with the Arab Palestinian account, I more thoroughly went through the different videos on the page. Every so often, I will find videos that I at least partially agreed with, but what I largely found was that the page tends to promote African communist, anti-capitalist, and anti-Israel leaders. I believe all voices should be represented, so there is nothing wrong with that inherently. The problem is that the page showcases those voices exclusively, and sometimes manipulatively.
For example, the page posted an old video of the late Nelson Mandela addressing Jewish leaders about his friendship with the late Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) president, Yasser Arafat, among other dictators. When pressured by the South African Jewish community, Mandela said “...your enemies are not our enemies.” Nelson Mandela made it clear that Arafat, Fidel Castro, and Muammar Gaddafi aided Black South Africans in their struggle against apartheid. Whether one agrees with his relationship with those leaders or not, Mandela was not denigrating Jews or Israel. In fact, he repeatedly did the opposite. What ‘african_stream’ did was post Mandela’s comments in an attempt to portray Mandela as anti-Israel. Not only is this not true, we have documented proof of Mandela voicing his support for Israel, and his deep friendship with the South African Jewish community.
The Instagram page african_stream does not display a diversity of African thought, but has a political agenda and sees Africa as a vehicle to push that agenda. In fact, the same page that posted the manipulative video of Mandela has another video on its page accusing Mandela of being a sellout and a puppet for even becoming president in the first place. Another more recent post on the page celebrates Israeli delegates being kicked out of the African Union Summit in February. The post used hashtags like #FreePalestine and #ProPalestinian in the caption. This was another major red flag for me, as most Africans are devout Christians, and therefore very pro-Israel primarily from a biblical standpoint. When it comes to politics, to quote my South African friend and entrepreneur, Phakiso Totetsi, “Most Africans don’t care.” In my conversation with Phakiso, we discussed the fact that Africans, South Africans in particular, have so many problems on the ground that need to be tackled, the ongoing issues of a country 4000 miles away in the Middle East are the least of their concerns. Yet, african_stream is one of many Instagram pages pushing a false narrative that Africans are anti-Israel.
One has the freedom to make whatever political page they wish to make on social media. However, a page like african_stream would be better suited to have a name like african_communist_stream so those who follow aren’t fooled into thinking it is a good resource to learn about Africa as a whole.
Africa is rising, and in that rising, there are those who are alongside her for the sole purpose of promoting their own agenda. African_communist_stream, for instance, is anti-capitalist, when there are millions upon millions of Africans that are not only pro-free market but young and budding global entrepreneurs. You cannot have a strong Africa without a strong economy; and you cannot have a strong economy with socialism, which, according to Ghanaian economist, George Ayittey, is even more Western than capitalism.
The good news is that many Africans aren’t deterred by any of this. What this says to me is that in time, the sham of a friendship between communists with agendas and Africans trying to build up their countries will eventually crumble. If the tension between the Arab Palestinian and Africans on the Instagram post about China was any small indication, when the time comes, as Africa continues to rise and finds out who her real friends are, she will part ways with the fake ones.
The people best suited to steer Africa in the right direction are Africans, and Africans will do it. In our work at IBSI, we don’t believe it to be a matter of hope. We simply believe it to be a matter of time.