The inconvenient truth of Africa: Navigating a new scramble and safeguarding tomorrow

A person who does not learn from the pain of yesterday will relive it tomorrow.

Africa, a land of immeasurable wealth, remains generous to the world, yet too often, its children reap the least benefit.

The colonial scars that should have taught Africa to safeguard its resources are instead reopening under a new wave of exploitation, one not imposed but gleefully embraced.

Once, foreign invaders arrived with chains; today, they come with agreements and contracts.

The difference? Africa now signs willingly.

From Ghanaian gold to Congolese cobalt, Africa’s riches have been mined for centuries. While past invaders seized resources through violence, today’s collaborators do so with contracts.

The issue extends beyond outside exploitation; it includes Africa’s methods of negotiating its resources' future.

Failure to negotiate: trading tomorrow for today

The lure of immediate gains often blinds decision-makers to the generations they are mortgaging.

Rather than negotiating, African leaders frequently resort to bargaining: a crucial distinction.

Negotiation requires strategic foresight and a vision for sustainable development. Bargaining, on the other hand, prioritises short-term benefits at the cost of long-term prosperity.

Instead of leveraging Africa’s vast resources for industrialisation and self-sufficiency, many leaders opt for deals that provide short-lived financial relief.

The Democratic Republic of Congo holds over 60% of the world’s known cobalt reserves, an essential mineral for electric vehicles, smartphones and renewable energy.

Yet, despite billions in export revenue, its people remain among the poorest.

The wealth stays in corporate boardrooms, while Congolese miners dig with bare hands.
Some of the continent’s leaders continue to sign away mineral rights at rates that undermine their sovereignty.

Roads are paved with foreign loans. Railways connect mines to ports, not people to opportunities.

Until Africa learns to negotiate instead of merely bargaining, the continent will remain a supplier of raw materials, watching as others profit from its untapped potential.

To rectify this, African leaders must engage professional negotiation experts; not just lawyers, procurers, financiers and politicians, when discussing resource agreements and contracts.

Negotiation is a science that balances economic foresight with strategic leverage. Bargaining is what traders do in open-air markets; negotiation is what nations do to secure their future.

Rise of resource-for-infrastructure deals: a Trojan Horse

A goat that does not guard its grass will watch others feast. Africa has become a banquet table for the world’s superpowers, who feast on its resources, sometimes under the guise of development.

China has perfected the art of negotiation, and African leaders can learn from this approach. Many of Africa’s infrastructure deals involve roads, bridges, and railways built in exchange for resource control.

But these are not simple gifts; they are carefully structured agreements with long-term strategic intent. Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway project once hailed as a transformative initiative, has become a financial burden, raising concerns over national assets being leveraged for debt repayment.

Africa’s roads may be paved with foreign loans, but they lead only to the ports where its wealth is shipped away.

Cost of bad deals: Poverty, pollution, and dependency

When the forest disappears, so too does the rain. Poorly negotiated deals do not just drain wealth; they erode ecosystems, displace communities, and deepen economic dependency.

In Ghana, illegal gold mining has poisoned rivers. What should be a national treasure has become a national tragedy. The gold extracted makes millionaires abroad, while locals are left with barren lands and toxic water.

The social cost is equally severe. Mining operations displace entire communities, leaving them with neither compensation nor alternatives. Leaders sign deals for quick cash to balance their budgets, forgetting that long after they are gone, the consequences remain.

Why Africa must change its approach

The future is not inherited; it is built. Africa possesses all the tools to become a global powerhouse: abundant resources, youthful populations and untapped potential. However, it must abandon the mentality of short-term survival and embrace a strategic long-term vision planning.

Transparency and accountability in resource deals

Governments must ensure that agreements and contracts are negotiated with the people’s interests at heart. Every deal must withstand public scrutiny.

Value addition within Africa

Exporting raw materials is economic short-sightedness. Africa must invest in refineries, manufacturing, and value chains that retain wealth within its borders.

Environmental and social safeguards

Resources should not come at the cost of poisoned lands and displaced families. Strict environmental laws must be enforced.

Leveraging regional cooperation

Individual nations negotiate from a position of weakness. Africa must unite through the African Union and ECOWAS to demand better terms.

Training negotiation experts

Africa must invest in developing world-class negotiation teams composed of economists, procurement and industry experts and strategists, not just legal advisors, financiers and politicians.

Success stories: Proof that change is possible

Africa need not look abroad for success models; it has them within its borders.

Botswana has used its diamond wealth to create a stable economy. Instead of letting foreign companies take all the profits, Botswana ensured a share of the revenues was reinvested into its people.

Rwanda has transformed from a nation scarred by genocide into a beacon of economic progress, thanks to strong leadership, strategic planning, and self-reliance.

These nations show that when Africa stops playing the victim and starts negotiating from a position of strength, prosperity follows.

Call to action: Building a future worth inheriting

An elder who plants a tree may never sit under its shade but ensures that others will.

Africa must start planting trees for future generations.

Leadership must not be about securing short-term and election-driven cycle wins but securing a nation’s generational future. Leaders must negotiate and not bargain with their nation’s resources.

They must also invest in education and build industries that sustain their people.

The scramble for Africa’s wealth is fiercer than ever. But Africa is not helpless. It can choose how to respond.

Conclusion: The time is now

Africa stands at a crossroads. The choices made today will determine whether its resources will become a blessing or continue to be a curse.

The inconvenient truth is that no one else will prioritise Africa’s interests.

That responsibility lies solely with Africans. As the old adage says, "The earth is not inherited from our ancestors; it is borrowed from our children."

What kind of legacy will we leave?

If Africa continues to give away its treasure, it may one day find itself empty-handed, rich in memory but poor in reality.

Let this be the moment Africa chooses differently. Let this be the moment Africa reclaims its future.

The sun rises for all, but its warmth only touches those who step into the light.

Africa must rise, not just in rhetoric, but in action.

It is time to stop being spectators in the global economy and start being architects of its destiny.

History will judge this generation not by what it inherited, but by what it built.

The question is simple: Will Africa rise, or will it continue to watch others shape its future through bargaining rather than negotiation?

The choice is ours.

The writer is a globally celebrated thought leader, Chartered Director, industrial engineer, supply chain management expert, and social entrepreneur.