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For decades, Africa has been the scene of recurrent wars, ranging from independence struggles to current armed conflicts, the most visible of which are those in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, the Sahel, Libya, Somalia, Cameroon and more. These wars, often presented as internal, civil or tribal, have in fact been fueled and maintained by external interference, motivated by geostrategic competition and the thirst for control of natural resources. The Western powers, through the sale of arms, their military, diplomatic or economic support to certain regimes or factions, have played a decisive role in maintaining these wars.

The impacts are dramatic: millions of dead and displaced, collapse of state institutions, maintenance of dictatorships, worsening poverty, destruction of social fabrics, rise of hate speech and erosion of hopes for sustainable development. Western imperialism, in its military, economic and cultural dimensions, continues to shape Africa’s future at the expense of its sovereignty and lasting peace.

Faced with this, struggles are emerging including: citizen protests against the presence of foreign military bases, the pursuit of true African independence in the Sahel, demands for a renewed Pan-Africanism, feminist and youth movements demanding sovereign and just governance, campaigns against the plundering of natural resources. These struggles, perceived as “anti-Western” by the said powers, present themselves as legitimate expressions of aspiration for self-determination, an end to wars, and a call for dignity and peace. They reveal a balance of power in which Africa’s most courageous leaders are trying to regain control of their destiny and to propose more equitable models of cooperation, whether South-South initiatives or new forms of international solidarity.

World BEYOND War’s 3rd African Virtual Conference, Imagine Africa Beyond War, on November 27-28 is a space for reflection aimed at analyzing the effects of Western imperialism, highlighting African resistance and imagining a decolonized, war-free collaboration based on equality, justice and peace.