Many have written that the future of the West will be played out in Africa. A continent that the world is watching most closely today because it is undeniably the demographic centre of gravity of the planet. While denatality is growing everywhere, in Africa population growth will still be constant in the coming decades. This is why it is described as the source of the migratory bombshell that is hitting Europe. Another challenge concerns raw materials, in particular minerals that are strategic in the transition towards a sustainable economy: many of the minerals and rare metals that are indispensable for solar panels or electric cars are extracted in Africa, which is why the African continent is described as the victim of all imperialist and neo-colonial appetites: Western and others, such as China, Russia, Turkey, India, the Gulf countries. All have their eyes on African resources. In the last decades Africa has always been presented through a pauperist and catastrophist narrative and has made the headlines as a place of disaster and suffering: conflicts, droughts and famine, exploitation and plundering of resources, refugees dying crossing the Mediterranean. In the 1970s, the distant era of post-colonial independence, the hopes of rebirth were viewed with sympathy by Western countries, which were inclined to look almost pityingly at the then disastrous conditions in the health, economic and social spheres, in part afflicted by guilt complexes for their imperialist and colonialist pasts, and therefore promoters and supporters of a culture of humanitarian aid that would, however, contribute to even greater economic dependence and much corruption. But 21st century Africa, an immense continent with enormous diversity, is not just suffering and migration, it shows extraordinary cultural vitality and a protagonism that opposes those who believe they can exploit it for their own ends. The aid model has gone into crisis, the export of democracy has clashed with the persistence of dictatorships and the strengthening of statism, an increasingly unscrupulous policy of the global Great South has emerged, which seems to constantly put ethics in brackets, both on environmental issues and on the exploitation of resources, giving priority to concrete results. The Western approach is marking time because it perhaps does not fully understand the new African policy and this new type of mentality that leads Africa to see itself as an emerging geopolitical power characterised, in many of its states, by development and economic growth, to be listened to for its ability to influence global institutions such as the G20, the G7, the UN Security Council, etc. Major problems remain, aggravated by pandemics, rampant corruption and the problem of wars and refugees, but the Continent’s future agenda today also includes issues such as sustainability, innovation, cooperation and partnerships. No new colonialism is feared, but foreign investments are encouraged, especially in infrastructure, health and new technologies, by those who want to actively participate in African affairs, but under different conditions, which this time mainly take African interests into account.
