The International Conference on Africa’s Democracy (ICAD) 2025 is a platform aimed at fostering dialogue on governance and development challenges unique to Africa. The inaugural edition, themed “Afro-Democracy: Building Governance Systems that Work in Africa for Africans,” is running in Abuja, Nigeria. It brings together delegates from across the continent, including heads of state, legislators, civil society leaders, youth advocates, and scholars.
The Focus Areas include Credible Elections, economic Sovereignty, Indigenous Governance Models through developing an “Afro-Democracy” that aligns with African values and realities. Youth and Digital Innovation by Harnessing Africa’s youth potential in the digital space. Key Speakers include Prof. Patrice Lumumba, Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Former AU Ambassador to the United States Amb. Arikana Chihombori-Quao, Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas just to name a few.
ICAD: Reclaiming Africa’s Sovereignty
The pursuit of Africa’s sovereignty is not merely a political aspiration but a radical reimagining of economic, cultural, and political systems to centre African agency, dignity, and self-determination. The legacy of colonialism and the ongoing neocolonial structures—manifested through exploitative trade systems, foreign aid dependency, and Western-dominated financial institutions—have entrenched Africa’s structural dependency, sapping the continent’s ability to chart its own destiny. Reclaiming sovereignty demands dismantling these systems through Afrocentric policies and actions that prioritize African solutions, rooted in the principles of Pan-Africanism, self-reliance, and resistance to globalist agendas that perpetuate Western dominance.
The Roots of Structural Dependency
The Scramble for Africa in the late 19th century, formalized at the 1884 Berlin Conference, carved the continent into artificial boundaries, prioritizing European economic interests over African social and political realities. This colonial framework reorganized African economies to serve as extractive hubs for raw materials, feeding Europe’s Industrial Revolution while dismantling indigenous systems of governance, trade, and cultural cohesion. Post-independence, the promise of liberation was undermined by neocolonial mechanisms—structural adjustment programs (SAPs) imposed by the IMF and World Bank, conditional aid, and trade agreements that locked African nations into exporting primary commodities while importing manufactured goods at unfavourable terms. These policies entrenched a dependency culture, where African economies remained tethered to Western markets and institutions. For instance, the reliance on cash crops and natural resources priced by the West, a colonial legacy, continues to limit economic diversification, leaving nations vulnerable to global price fluctuations. Foreign aid, often tied to political and economic reforms aligned with Western liberal ideologies, has further eroded sovereignty by imposing external governance models that clash with African communal values and realities. This dynamic has fostered a cycle of debt, poverty, and political instability, with 72% of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s population living on less than $1.90 a day in 2018, despite its vast mineral wealth. Zimbabwe-born public speaker Joshua Maponga explains where true power lies: The economy. Without control of it, it would be misguided to claim sovereignty.
Reclaiming Africa’s Sovereignty through Economic Diversification and Industrialization
Reclaiming Africa’s sovereignty requires a paradigm shift toward Reclaiming Africa’s sovereignty requires a paradigm shift toward Afrocentric policies that prioritize local agency, cultural identity, and economic self-sufficiency. Afrocentricity, as a framework, positions Africans as agents of their own history, rejecting the Eurocentric lens that has long defined development. Key strategies include Economic Diversification and Industrialization: African nations must move beyond primary commodity exports by investing in value-added industries. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), launched in 2018, offers a framework for intra-African trade, reducing reliance on external markets. By fostering regional supply chains and processing raw materials locally, Africa can retain wealth and create jobs.
Reclaiming Africa’s Sovereignty through Repossessing Financial Systems
Western-dominated institutions like the IMF and World Bank have imposed neoliberal policies that prioritize market liberalization over African priorities. Establishing African-led financial institutions, such as an expanded African Development Bank (AfDB), can provide funding free from external conditionalities. Additionally, leveraging local capital markets and mobilizing domestic savings can reduce dependence on foreign loans.
Reclaiming Africa’s Sovereignty through Decolonizing Governance
Afrocentric governance models should draw on pre-colonial communal systems, which emphasized collective responsibility and accountability. The Afrocentric school argues that traditional African leaders operated with a communal spirit, minimizing corruption—a stark contrast to the extractive colonial systems that persist in post-colonial governance. Policies must prioritize human-centered development, focusing on basic needs like food security, healthcare, and education, rather than Western-imposed liberal democratic frameworks.
Anti-Colonial and Anti-Globalist Finance
As an anti-globalist finance advocate, I reject the notion that Africa’s development must conform to Western capitalist models. Globalist finance, driven by institutions like the IMF, prioritizes profit over people, perpetuating a system where African resources enrich foreign corporations while local populations languish. For example, China’s growing influence—while less conditional than Western aid—often prioritizes Chinese interests, with $300 billion in trade in 2023 dwarfing U.S.-Africa trade. An anti-colonial financial strategy demands Sovereign Wealth Fund. African nations with resource wealth, like Nigeria or Angola, should establish sovereign wealth funds to reinvest resource revenues into infrastructure, education, and technology, rather than allowing profits to be siphoned offshore. Then rejecting Tied Aid. Conditional aid often serves as a neocolonial tool, dictating policy and undermining sovereignty. African governments must negotiate aid on their terms or reject it outright, prioritizing partnerships that respect territorial integrity. To counter the dominance of Western currencies like the dollar and euro, African nations could explore regional or strengthening their currencies to facilitate intra-African trade and reduce exposure to global financial volatility.
Written By Tatenda Belle Panashe
