Africa Rising? Rhetoric, Realism, and the Remaking of Geopolitical Leadership

For decades, Africa has often been discussed through the lenses of dependency, fragility, or victimhood – a continent of problems rather than power. Yet in the twenty-first century, this framing is being upended. As the world fragments into multipolar competition and resource nationalism, Africa’s 54 nations are no longer mere recipients of foreign agendas but active players in a high-stakes geopolitical game. From the mineral wars of the Sahel to diplomatic balancing between China, the U.S., and the Gulf states, African leaders now command increasing agency. This shift is not accidental. It stems from deliberate political engineering, redefined pan-Africanism, and recalibrated statecraft. This piece draws from top scholars like Achille Mbembe, Mahmood Mamdani, and Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu to unpack the strategic contours of African geopolitical leadership – and where the continent might be heading next.

At the heart of Africa’s emergent leadership is a deeper reckoning with sovereignty – not merely as legal recognition, but as the capacity to make choices amid structural constraint. Mamdani’s work on the “bifurcated state” underscores how colonial legacies fractured political authority between customary and bureaucratic realms. Yet recent leaders have sought to stitch these fragments together. Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, for instance, has fused central authority with technocratic discipline and developmental authoritarianism, making Kigali a hub of innovation and diplomacy. But this model…