Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.

The highlights this week: African governments try to distance themselves from Pretoria following xenophobic attacks, Spanish politicians seek to make sense of the border incident in Ceuta, and renewed clashes erupt in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.

The highlights this week: African governments try to distance themselves from Pretoria following xenophobic attacks, Spanish politicians seek to make sense of the border incident in Ceuta, and renewed clashes erupt in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

South Africa’s Reputational Hit

South Africa has long been a leader of the African continent, but the country’s influence may be waning as its reputation takes a hit following widespread violent attacks on Black African migrants within its borders.

Since the end of apartheid, South Africa has experienced recurring waves of xenophobic violence, which have killed an estimated 705 people over the past two decades. There was an uptick in anti-migrant attacks in 2008, and xenophobic sentiment has worsened again this year as migrants have become scapegoats for the country’s economic woes and high unemployment rate.

The two anti-migrant groups driving this latest wave—Operation Dudula and March and March—are well funded and organized. More than 160,000 Africans have fled the country over the past two months, according to an AFP tally of repatriations by African governments.

Amid this migrant exodus, African governments have distanced themselves from the country in recent weeks, postponing high-level meetings with Pretoria, while Africans across the continent are increasingly boycotting South African cultural events.

Critics have also called into question South Africa’s reputation as a strong moral voice and advocate for the global south, particularly on human rights violations in Gaza. Since 2023, Pretoria has led a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

“[P]rinciples are measured by how well governments uphold them at home, not just by what they advocate abroad,” read a recent opinion piece in the Addis Standard. “For many African migrants living in South Africa … that commitment often feels incomplete.”

Last week, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu declined to meet directly with a delegation sent by South Africa to address diplomatic tensions over the xenophobic attacks, sending the visitors to Nigeria’s minister of state for foreign affairs instead.

Ghanaian President John Mahama also delayed a visit last month from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Ghanaian government spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu told the BBC that the visit was postponed “in view of the present climate around xenophobia.”

However, Mahama later met with a delegation, which included South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola, that Pretoria deployed to address the fallout. “We........

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