Editorial

The Shepherd and the Sheep** In the sunbaked plains of the Serengeti, there is an old Maasai parable: *“The shepherd loves his sheep until the drought comes.”* For centuries, Africa has been treated as a flock to be herded, shorn, and sacrificed by foreign powers. Today, as the United States resurrects its “America First” doctrine under Donald Trump’s second term a creed now stretching beyond borders to covet Canada’s forests, Greenland’s minerals, Havana’s harbors, and Gaza’s gas reserves the parable takes on a darker urgency. If the shepherd sharpens his knife, the sheep must become lions.

The New Scramble: America’s Hunger for “More”

The 2024 U.S. election campaign was punctuated by a map. At a rally in Iowa, Trump unfurled a 19th-century-style chart labeled “American Renewal,” with large swaths of North America, the Arctic, and the Caribbean shaded in red. “Why shouldn’t we take what’s ours?” he asked, to roaring applause. By January 2025, his administration had formalized bids to “purchase” Greenland (rebuffed by Denmark), floated statehood for Alberta (sparking protests in Calgary), and backed an Israeli extremist proposal to “relocate” Gaza’s Palestinians into Egypt’s Sinai a plan tacitly blessed by Trump’s claim that “Gaza’s coast has strategic value.” This is not mere rhetoric. It is the logic of empire, repackaged

“America First” and the Ghosts of Expansionism: Why Africa Must Choose Itself

The U.S. has already invoked the 1856 Guano Islands Act a relic of its Manifest Destiny era to claim offshore energy deposits near Cuba. Meanwhile, AFRICOM quietly expanded drone bases in Niger and Somalia, citing “counterterrorism” while eyeing lithium and cobalt veins. But Africa is no stranger to foreign appetites. The scars of the 1884 Berlin Conference, when colonial powers carved the continentlikeacake,stillthrob.Today’stoolsare subtler: trade deals laced with debt, “security partnerships” that militarize resource zones, and Silicon Valley’s digital plantations harvesting data from Accra to Nairobi. Africa First: Beyond the “Partnership” Mirage** The Biden era’s “partnership of equals” is dead. Trump’s Washington deals in ultimatums: *“Stand with us orstarve.”*ButAfricaneednotkneel

“Stand with us or starve.”But Africa need not kneel

To choose “Africa First” is not to spurn the world, but to redefine engagement on African terms.

When Starlink throttled rural internet speeds, Rwanda partnered with Elon Musk’s rival, OneWeb, to launch its own satellites. The message is clear: dependency is a choice. The Path Ahead: From Rhetoric to Revolution To choose “Africa First” is not to spurn the world, but to redefine engagement on African terms. Consider: Resource Sovereignty: Zimbabwe’s 2024 law mandating 51% local ownership of lithium mines a model for turning raw ores into batteries and jobs. Climate JusticeThe Congo Basin’s $50 billion carbon credit pact with the EU, renegotiated in 2025 to fund solar grids instead of timber exports. Tech Sovereignty*: Senegal’s Silicon Delta, where engineers are crafting AI tools to diagnose malaria in Wolof and Mandinka. Critics warn of isolation. But true sovereignty is not solitude it is the power to choose allies, not masters. When the AU partnered with Turkey to build Africa’s first mRNA vaccine factory, it rejected Pfizer’s demand for liability waivers. When China offered loans for the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway, Kenya insisted on local contractors for 40% of the work.**The Lions of Tomorrow. In 1896, Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II routed Italian colonizers at Adwa with rifles bought from Russia and France the very powers that had carved Africa. Today’s battles are fought with bonds, tariffs, and patents, but the principle endures: Africa’s destiny cannot be outsourced. As Trump’s America hungers for more, Africa must feast on its own potential.

Let the West keep its “friendships” of shepherds and sheep. We choose the wisdom of the baobab: roots deep in our soil, branches wide enough to shade the world.