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Once conquered and divided by Western empires, Africa now faces a more sophisticated challenge. In the modern world, the recolonisation of the African continent is not accomplished with ships and rifles, but hidden beneath the language of diplomacy, development, partnerships, and geopolitical manipulation. Military invasions have been replaced by loan diplomacy and “win-win trades”. Although the imperial powers promise peace and mutual growth, they compete fiercely against each other for control over African markets, resources, and political loyalty. Thus, the international system over which the imperialist nation rule amounts to the merciless pursuit of their self-interest.
To understand this new face of imperialism, the article draws on the theory of neocolonialism explained by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, along with insights from dependency theory and elite theory. In his “Neo-colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism”, Nkrumah warned that African nations risk being controlled by foreign powers through economic, political, and military forces. This new form of imperialism does not require colonial governors or gunboats, but it operates through foreign aid, military bases, trade deals, and multinational cooperation that favours external interests. Dependency theory explains Africa’s precarious role in the global economy, exporting raw materials and importing finished goods from advanced capitalist economies. This role is the consequence of an unequal power relation resulting in the permanent state of underdevelopment of the African continent. Elite theory explains how the above system survives; many African leaders, instead of challenging this foreign dominance, align with it. They facilitate deals that benefit them, undermining the sovereignty and civil interest of the African countries. These theories together reveal a disturbing truth that Africa is not free from imperialism despite having formally declared independence from colonialism. It has fallen prey to a new set of relationships with imperialist powers that reproduce the injustices of its colonial past.
The 21st-century imperialism is unlike that of the 19th and 20th centuries; Neocolonialism is developing through hypocrisy. There is a stark and obvious gap between what the imperialist powers claim to support—sovereignty, global peace, and development—and what they actually do: extraction deals, military interventions, and political manipulation. The tragic part of this narrative is that most leaders on the African continent collaborate with foreign actors at the expense of their nations’ ultimate long-term interests. The unquenchable thirst for power, greed, elite capture, political survival, and exchanging national sovereignty for private gains have made African governance susceptible to external forces.
Imperialism under the mask of partnerships
Colonial empires once governed the African territories with their flags, guns, and governors. Today, the tone has changed, but the structure remains the same. Imperialism is now negotiated in boardrooms, discussed at economic summits, and justified as “South-South Cooperation” and “South-North Cooperation,”. The real question is. Why has France continued to apply deep economic control in the former colonies through the CFA franc? A currency tied to the French treasury, which limits local monetary independence and sovereignty (The Conversation, 2024).
Similarly, China’s cooperation in Africa through the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) was established to help China expand its economic interests and cooperation globally. In Africa, the initiative is popular because most African countries face infrastructural deficiencies. Large sums of loans are given to participating countries to construct infrastructure in various sectors. However, the initiative has received substantial criticism from advanced economies, noting the risk of debt traps, a lack of transparency, and exploitative labour practices. (Brookings, 2019; Afreximbank, 2025).
In addition, the United States maintains a growing military presence under the banner of the U.S Africa Command initiative (AFRICOM). Formed in 2007, AFRICOM oversees U.S military and security cooperation with African nations to strengthen security forces and respond to crises to advance U.S. interests while promoting regional security, stability and prosperity (U.S. Department of Defense). The US conducts operations under the umbrella of counterterrorism, partnership building, exercises and training with its bases in Niger, Djibouti (Camp Lemonier) and Kenya (Manda Bay), Niger (Air Base 101, Niamey, and Air Base 201, Agaedez), Egypt (MFO South Camp) and Cameroon (Contingency, Garoua). Russia, according to some sources, is also present in Africa through its mercenaries, hiding behind the Wagner Group to serve its interests. (BBC, 2024; Marten, 2022).
The United Kingdom is still influential in Africa through the Commonwealth, serving as a tool in its existence among its colonies. Africa represents over one-third of the Commonwealth’s membership of 56 states. (The Africa report, 2021). Despite the claims of respect for sovereignty, mutual respect, and partnerships with African nations, most similar strategies have been used with different ideological perspectives. Invest in elite relationships, silencing dissent, controlling relevant sectors, shaping global media narratives about Africa using the media, justification of unethical political interferences, and sabotaging peace and stability.
The role of African Elites: Complicit Architects of Dependency
What role do African leaders play under the new face of imperialism? Although foreign actors do push their agendas, many African leaders and the elite political class are the enablers of imperialism. Sacrificing national dignity for political gains, foreign loyalty, and elite deals chosen over public accountability. Pan-Africanism is widely preached, independence and self-reliance, but hypocritically, behind the curtains, the continent’s wealth and future are being sold away. For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), known to be one of the richest countries in natural resources, is dominated by both Western and Chinese companies exploiting labour and paying little tax (PPLAAF, 2021; Bloomberg, 2022).
The oil rush in Uganda and Tanzania with French and Chinese oil companies has triggered environmental and human displacement concerns with lawsuits, yet still the government has kept silent about it, placing capital inflows over the well-being of communities. (The New York Times, 2023). In Ghana, thousands of protesters were against the expansion of its defence cooperation with the United States, which gave American troops immunity and access to military facilities in Ghana. Protestants condemned the action as a betrayal and selling Ghana’s sovereignty, yet still, the deal went forward without transparency. (Africanews, 2018). There is much empirical evidence across Africa, but the contradictions are probably the saddest. While foreign actors continue to pursue their self-interest, African leaders do have the moral rights, authority, and obligations to protect the national integrity and dignity. When African leaders fail, whether through corruption, fear, complicity, etc. They become co-architects of modern imperialism, just like in the colonial days.
Influence, Not Land: The New Scramble for Africa
The new Scramble for Africa is no longer about acquiring territory , but about winning influence. It is a battleground between global powers, China, the USA, Russia, the UK, France, and other EU countries. The influence cuts across political regimes, economic cooperation, and military cooperation. They employ both covert and overt initiatives, strategically, to exert their influence on the African continent. What matters is access to ports, policies, media, and military corridors.
For example, recently, China has made progress with its influence through infrastructural and market cooperation, often through debt or heavy loans. (Himmer, 2022) . Debt allows external actors to influence domestic budgets, dictate economic reforms, and even claim control over key national assets. This is not a partnership. It is fiscal colonisation. China has funded over 1000 projects across Africa, controlling ports, railways, and energy infrastructure. China is specifically trying to win the so-called ‘global trade war’. While the U.S is slapping tariffs on African goods, China is offering zero duties. China also seeks to expand its military cooperation with African countries through the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). (Africa Center for Strategic Studies, 2025).
Russia is growing its footprint in Africa’s Sahel regions through its Wagner Group. Mali, Sudan, Burkina Faso, and the Central African Republic (CAR). Regimes are offered military protection in a ‘win-win’ situation, promoting the interests of Russian influence in Africa. For example, in 2017, Moscow quickly obtained an exception from the UN Security Council’s arms embargo and sent weaponry and military trainers from the Wagner Group to the CAR. For decades before the arrival of the Russians, France had a significant military and political influence in the CAR. Burkina Faso has recently been under similar influence. (Stronski, 2023). The United States is gradually losing its influential global power in Africa. In the past decades, the U.S.A. has had an advantage over China’s leadership in most years since 2007. (Gallup, 2024).
The modern face of imperialism, characterised by the battleground for influence, is centred on many geopolitical issues, albeit for different reasons in Africa, including leadership race, race to secure precious minerals, regime expansion, dispute over debt reliefs, and authoritarian regimes. The African nations are stuck between a geopolitical tug of war. Sovereignty is just a talking point and not a reality.
Conclusion
The New Face of Imperialism is real with a change of tone, language, and colour. It does not use chains, governors, and whims anymore, but debt and diplomacy. It does not build colonies but dependencies. If the African continent must rise, it must first recognise the hypocrisy of modern geopolitics and resist both external manipulations and internal betrayal. There should be a call for transparency in foreign policies, pan-African cooperation grounded in people and not elites, an ideological shift towards greater self-reliance and independence, and citizen-led accountability that demands sovereignty in both theory and practice.
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This article was first published by ROAPE.
