On May 25, 2025, as Africa commemorates 62 years since the founding of the African Union, the Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice (EFSCRJ) issued a powerful call to action, urging Africans at home and abroad to organize, agitate, liberate, and unify. In a public statement marking Africa Day, the organization condemned African governments, regional blocs, and continental institutions for failing to deliver on promises of good governance, sustainable development, and shared prosperity, leaving the continent mired in poverty despite its vast natural resources.
The EFSCRJ highlighted Africa’s paradoxical plight: endowed with approximately 30% of the world’s mineral reserves, including 90% of platinum group metals, 90% of chromium, 55% of cobalt, 54% of manganese, 40% of gold, and significant deposits of diamonds, uranium, lithium, and rare earth elements, Africa remains the poorest region globally. The statement attributed this to a toxic mix of historical exploitation, colonial legacies, and ongoing weak governance and corruption, which siphoned off resources to enrich foreign interests and local elites. According to the UN Economic Commission for Africa, corruption alone costs the continent $148 billion annually, depriving citizens of essential services like healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
The Centre pointed to colonial-era artificial borders that continue to fuel ethnic divisions and conflicts, enabling resource looting and perpetuating dependency on unfair global trade, aid, and debt systems. Weak governance has also led to democratic backsliding, with authoritarian regimes and self-perpetuating “democratic” governments stifling freedoms. The proliferation of over 50 foreign military bases across Africa, operated by nations including the US, UK, France, China, and Russia, was cited as evidence of the continent’s weakened state, serving foreign interests rather than African development.
Quoting Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, the EFSCRJ underscored the untapped potential of Africa’s resources: “If Africa’s multiple resources were used in her development, they could place Africa among the most modernized continents of the world, but Africa’s resources are used for the development of overseas countries.” The organization echoed Nkrumah’s 1961 and 1963 calls for African unity as a survival and security necessity, warning that Africa risks further exploitation and conflict fueled by foreign powers.
The EFSCRJ proposed a path forward rooted in Pan-Africanist ideals, advocating for a political union based on shared defense, foreign affairs, diplomacy, common citizenship, an African currency, a monetary zone, and a central bank. The Center argued that such unity is essential to harness Africa’s resources for its development and to navigate the current global geopolitical shifts, where powers like the US, Russia, China, and India prioritize their own interests.
The statement criticized African governments and institutions for incompetence, inefficiency, and unethical leadership, accusing them of failing to uphold their own constitutions, treaties, and protocols. With democratic backsliding and autocracy on the rise, the EFSCRJ called on African citizens, civil society, political parties, businesses, media, and academia to demand unity by Africa Day 2026. “Africa must not stand still as a spectator, recipient, dependent, and follower,” the statement declared, urging the continent to take charge of its destiny.
The call to action comes at a critical juncture, as global competition intensifies and Africa’s strategic resources make it a key player in renewable energy and technology supply chains. The EFSCRJ emphasized that Africa owes no explanation or deference to foreign powers in pursuing its interests. “The time for Africa to assert and focus on herself is long overdue,” the statement asserted, invoking Nkrumah’s warning: “Africa must unite or perish.”
As Africa Day 2025 is celebrated under the theme “The Year of Transparency and Accountability,” the EFSCRJ’s message resonates as a clarion call for transformative change. The organization envisions a united Africa that leverages its vast potential to end poverty, achieve sustainable development, and reclaim its place on the global stage. “Forward to the United Africa,” the statement concluded, rallying the continent for a future of self-determination and prosperity.
