The African century begins with unity – or it does not begin. Part 3. From Illusion to Reality

Artificial political independence, when it remains devoid of economic sovereignty, constitutes only an illusion of freedom, a facade of autonomy deprived of any real capacity for self-determination.

Russia, Africa and dedollarization

This demonstration awakens something fundamental in African decision-makers who dare to think aloud: choice is possible. The Western monopoly on international financial systems is not a law of nature. It is a political construct. And what has been built can be dismantled.

The African single currency – the Afro, a name the founding fathers envisioned with a foresight that commands respect – is the structural antidote to this engineered dependency. A new name that reflects the changes of the last 60 years is not a bad thing. Africa possesses assets to build it, assets that its Western detractors prefer to ignore: 60% of the world’s unexploited arable land; 30% of known mineral reserves, including the metals for the energy transition – lithium, cobalt, manganese, rare earth elements – which Europe desperately needs to finance its own decarbonization; its domestic market of 2.5 billion consumers by 2050; and its youth: a median age of 19, compared to 44 in Europe. Africa is not poor in resources. It is poor in sovereignty. The single currency is the primary lever for this sovereignty.

The steps are well-known. First, strengthened regional monetary zones – the Monetary Community in West Africa, a reformed CEMAC in Central Africa, and EAC-SADC integration........

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