Donald Trump and Ibrahim Traore are two leaders who can best be described as “strange bedfellows.” Despite being similarly different, their commonalities can be viewed through different lenses and prisms. Both are trying to rewrite the rulebook, but they have one thing in common: making each area great. Mr. Trump wants to “make America great again,” and Mr. Traore, in turn, wants to “make Africa great again.” So what’s the problem? While Trump takes an isolationist stance and seeks to move America from global dominance to global irrelevance, Traore seeks to lead his country, and by extension Africa, from global irrelevance to global recognition. President Trump’s 100 days in office have been far from those of a traditional “leader of the free world.”
Trump views America’s allies, especially NATO, as parasites that take advantage of his country’s goodwill. He is calling on other allies to pay their fair share. Meanwhile, Traoré wants to sever the parasitic relationship with France and demand a fair share and value of his country’s resources. Mr. Trump raised trade tariffs, and Mr. Traore severed his country’s parasitic political and economic ties with some foreign investors, particularly France. He seeks to replace alliances and relationships with new rules of engagement based on symbiosis, equality, and mutual respect. Isn’t he, like Trump, trying to make Africa great again? Mr. Trump’s desire to relinquish his leadership role stands in contrast to Mr. Traore’s unintended consequences of liberating and unscrambling Africa. So if Trump can “Make America Great Again,” why can’t Africans “Make Africa Great Again”?
Is the rise of a far-right pseudo-government a wake-up call?
Trump and Traore came to power on different wavelengths. Mr Trump used democratic means, while Mr Traore took the less traditional and “undesirable” route. Ironically, since Trump took power, he has taken a chainsaw to the very democratic process that brought him to power. Meanwhile, Traore has promised to return his country to a democratic environment, but only after a serious rebuilding of Chainsaw. Using mass deportations as cover, President Trump’s challenge to authoritarian hegemony not only coincided with the rise of right-wing extremism, but also encouraged it. Despite differences in language, culture, etc., “immigrant, immigrant, immigrant” has been used as a scapegoat to express economic insecurity, anti-elite sentiment, and nationalist yearning for national identity and sovereignty.
Is it any surprise, then, that a growing number of far-right parties, previously on the fringes, are rapidly becoming part of coalition governments across Europe and now part of mainstream political discourse by the end of 2024/2025? These include Finland ( These include Finland (Party of Finland), Italy (Brothers of Italy), Hungary (Fidesz), Germany (Alternatives for the AFD), France (National Rally), Croatia (Fatherland Movement), Sweden (Sweden Democrats), the Netherlands, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. This resulting political alchemy is not only evidence that the traditional major parties are losing their appeal in forming a single government, but also clear evidence that their dominance is disappearing like sand in an hourglass. Does this reflect the soul of people today? Traore, on the other hand, is simply prioritizing the needs of the people as leverage to break the shackles of imperialism.
Advocating an “America first” worldview, President Trump described Africa as the worst hole and has since dismantled many agencies, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the main agency that “officially” expands aid to countries recovering from disaster, trying to lift themselves out of poverty, and engaging in democratic reform. Although he has withheld funding for infrastructure projects in Africa, perhaps as part of a “commitment to democratic reform,” recent comments about Traore by General Langley of the US military are unsurprising. President Trump considers immigrants to be parasites of the United States, and has labeled countries and organizations such as France, the IMF, and the United States as “immigrants,” including Abdullahmane Chiani, Asimi Goita, Netumbo Nnamdi Nd’towa (NNN Namibia), and Basil Diomaie. Trump and others are rightly complaining and suffering from donor fatigue, and are trying to cut the umbilical cord and free themselves from beggar fatigue syndrome. Ironically, Western countries are nervous about reviewing and terminating mining contracts in other countries such as Ghana and Malawi. Botswana and others will be able to feel the anger coursing through their blue veins as Russia and China stand ready to propose an alternative economic marriage that may be too popular for foreign interests.
Africa has always been portrayed as synonymous with war, famine, starvation, disease, poverty, and the misery of the planet. Myths and notions that Africa is too poor to exist without Western support and Western adult supervision. The demoralization of Africans to low self-esteem was intentional. The systematic secret elimination of black African heroes, Pan-Africanists, and freedom fighters such as Patrice Lumumba, Sankara, Samora Michel, Steve Biko, Diallo Teri, Nkrumah, etc., was deliberately orchestrated. The brainwashing and propaganda demonizing these leaders as demons, tyrants, dictators, and undemocratic to unsuspecting Africans was carried out with surgical precision. Attempts to do the same for people like Traore are currently failing…why? As trust in mainstream media becomes increasingly lost and social media provides an alternative real-time news outlet, the trajectory and control of reporting has changed. Attempts to demonize people like Traore have not only put a firm focus on him (pardon the pun), but have also inadvertently energized the continent and beyond. This reawakening has not brought the concept of democracy into the big conversation. What is democracy? Do African democracies and Western democracies exist?
Different shades of democracy in Africa.
Africa’s complex and diverse cultures, languages, geography, religions, and demography are linked only by geopolitical features that give uniformity to the entire continent. Government of the people, by the people, and of the people qualifies as a democracy. In its pure form. Sadly, the democracy that is preached, promoted, supported, propagated and celebrated in Africa is built differently by different peoples? Are democracies democratic only if they fit Western-style definitions? Are African democracies conditioned by the value of their resources? Does an African country’s democratic credentials depend on how much of its resources it trades with Western countries? If so, can Africa develop with Western-style democracy? If not, how can Africa’s longest-serving leader, with an average tenure of 30 years, qualify as a democrat? Resources, resources, resources. Is this what we call “Western-style democracy”?
How can one criticize the “democratic” credentials of someone like Ibrahim Traore (31) while solemnly praising the “democratic” credentials of someone like Y. Museveni (39), DS Nguesso (39) or Tong Mbasogo (45)? These eldest political relics have saddled their countries with huge debts, but have also amassed personal wealth by mortgaging their natural resources to foreign interests in exchange for protection and support from their puppet masters. As long as they keep their hands in the cookie jar, no one questions whether they will remain in power “till death do us part.”
So what does the rise of right-wing nationalism mean for the African continent?
Black history has been under threat since Trump returned to power. Diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) as a concept is increasingly being criminalized. Fascism is disguised as mass deportation. But in Africa and tiny Burkina Faso, Pan-Africanism (Make Africa Great Again) is seen as corrupt and dangerous. Should Africans redefine democracy from an African perspective? Should democracy be defined by outsiders or by the people of a country? Should the definition of democracy be determined by theoretical criteria or by practical results? Are African democracies defined depending on their relationship with the West, or are they determined by Western views and standards? Is this the beginning of a second war for Africa? Unlike in 1884, this time there are new players such as China, Russia, and Arabs. Unlike in 1884, Africans want to participate in a new “Berlin Conference.” Unlike in 1884, Africans want choice and control over what, who, when, why, which, who, and how of their country and its resources.
Far from being alarming propaganda, this week is a poignant reminder of World War II, but before Adolf Hitler started the war…
First they blamed the socialists, but I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a socialist.
Then they blamed trade unionists, but I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they attacked Jews, but I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t Jewish.
Then they came to pick me up and there was no one left to speak for me.
Remember to turn off the lights when you leave the room.
