The new age belongs not to those who covet Africa’s minerals, but to those who respect her sovereignty
From the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885, when European powers arrogated to themselves the moral licence to partition an entire continent, to the Cold War era when African nations became ideological chessboards, Africa’s history has been one of systematic invasion, plunder, and political manipulation. Her soil was carved into artificial borders, her people coerced into servitude, and her resources extracted to feed foreign empires. From the Congo’s rubber to the Niger Delta’s oil, from the Kimberley diamond pits to the copper belts of Zambia, the continent was treated not as a partner in civilisation but as a quarry for imperial ambition.
Yet history, inexorable and cyclical, now bends toward correction. A new consciousness has arisen across Africa — a consciousness anchored in education, technological awakening, and an unyielding sense of sovereignty. The continent once regarded as a colonial hinterland is now demanding its rightful place as a co-architect of the global future. The age of exploitation, so elegantly rationalized by imperial powers, has reached its twilight.
In a recent session before the United States Senate, Senator Ted Cruz voiced what many in Washington and Brussels have whispered in private — the fear that the balance of global influence has shifted. He declared: ‘The Chinese Communist Party takes a whole-of-government and frankly whole-of-nation approach to advancing its national security interests. They use diplomacy, state-backed financing, state-owned enterprises and even military leverage to gain control over critical minerals, especially in Africa. It is in the vital national security interest of the United States to ensure open and competitive access to these materials’.
Cruz’s words were laden with geopolitical anxiety. Beneath his lament lay a deeper truth — that the Western world still perceives Africa not as an equal partner but as an arena of contestation between global powers. This, however, is a misreading of history’s new direction. Africa is no longer an inert landscape to be ‘out-maneuvered; it is a strategic actor defining its own terms of engagement.
From King Leopold’s despotism in the Congo to the multinational exploitation of Nigeria’s oilfields, Africa has endured the continuity of resource imperialism. Colonialism may have receded formally, but its economic manifestations persisted through unequal trade regimes, foreign-controlled concessions, and the relentless outflow of capital. The 20th century was thus an age of extraction without transformation, of wealth without wealth creation. The continent’s vast natural endowment — gold, oil, coltan, cobalt, and now lithium — enriched others while impoverishing its custodians.
But that epoch is ending. Across the continent, a renaissance of economic self-determination is emerging. Nigeria, the giant of Africa and a repository of both human and mineral wealth, now stands at the vanguard of this awakening. With deposits ranging from rare earth elements and lithium to gold and bitumen, the nation is redefining its mineral policy framework. It no longer seeks to export crude ores and import finished goods at tenfold value; it now demands beneficiation — the processing, refining, and industrial utilisation of its resources within its own borders. This is not a matter of economic pride but of existential justice.
Figures such as Cruz and Donald Trump, who have recently turned their attention to Africa’s mineral belt, do so not out of philanthropy but out of necessity. The new frontier of global power lies not in oil but in lithium, cobalt, and rare earths — the lifeblood of defense technology, renewable energy, and artificial intelligence. Yet they must understand a simple historical truth: Africa is no longer for sale. The calculus has changed. The continent will engage, but only on equitable terms.
The new African covenant with the world is guided by four fundamental principles. First, local beneficiation before export — resources must create jobs, industries, and value chains on African soil. Second, technology and knowledge transfer — partnerships must empower, not entrench dependence. Third, environmental and social accountability — communities must benefit, not bleed. And fourth, sovereign equality — Africa will no longer sit at the edge of the table but across it, as a peer among nations.
This is the emerging doctrine of Africa’s rebirth. It is both political and philosophical. It proclaims that the continent’s destiny will no longer be dictated by foreign capitals or shaped by external fear. The vision of Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Moshood Abiola, Obafemi Awolowo, and Julius Nyerere — once dismissed as idealism — is now materialising in economic nationalism and regional integration. Africa’s youth, armed with digital literacy and global consciousness, will not tolerate the language of “aid” in place of investment, nor will they accept “access” as a euphemism for exploitation.
Here in Nigeria, the message must be even clearer. Though tribe and tongue may differ, though faith and culture may not always align, we must stand in brotherhood to defend our nation, not to sell her future for the fleeting comfort of division. Those who seek to divide Nigeria along ethnic or religious lines only serve the invisible hand of foreign interests — the same powers that armed bandits, sponsored chaos, and fueled genocidal conflicts across Africa to halt our progress. They profit when our farmers are displaced, when our industries collapse, and when our unity fractures. But Nigerians must rise above manipulation and stand with any leader who boldly proclaims: Nigeria First.
For decades, they rejoiced that we could not refine our own crude oil or process our minerals. They made fortunes importing our own wealth back to us as finished goods while keeping us chained to dependency. But now that Nigeria and Africa have declared, “Africa for Africa”, they are uneasy. They frown at our resolve, resist our reforms, and malign our leaders who dare to liberate us from economic bondage. Yet the verdict of history is clear — we are free, and we shall remain free.
Those still strategising over how to “out-maneuver” one another in Africa are fighting yesterday’s war. The real contest today is not between China and America—it is between domination and dignity, between history’s inertia and Africa’s self-assertion. The continent that once supplied the raw materials for the industrial revolution is now preparing to lead the technological one.
Africa extends a hand to all — East and West alike — but it does so from a position of choice, not compulsion. The time when emissaries arrived bearing treaties of plunder disguised as cooperation is gone. The future belongs to those who recognize that sovereignty is non-negotiable and partnership must be mutual.
The age of exploitation has ended. The dawn of African and Nigerian agency has begun.
Shonibare, writer, PR and branding strategist, writes from Abuja
