Thank you, Programme Director,
Art Bishop Sthembele Siphuka,
Distinguished delegates,

Allow me to congratulate the organisers on convening this important conference, particularly after the first conference could not be held in person due to the disruptions caused by the COVID pandemic.

I commend you for the thoughtful programme, the thought-provoking themes, the participatory and creative sessions, and the care with which you have created space for challenging conversations.

This Second Global Africa and African Diaspora Conference coincides with three important milestones:

• The fifth anniversary of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent,
• the 60th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,
• and the 25th anniversary of the landmark Durban Declaration and Programme of Action against racism, xenophobia and related intolerance.

I also recognise that some delegates may still be processing profound emotions of grief, relief and healing following their deeply moving encounter with the Doors of No Return.

This encounter reminds us that the history of slavery, colonialism and racial domination is not a closed chapter. It continues to shape how African people, wherever they are, experience the world.

But our presence signals that however weighty this history may be, there is hope in the collective efforts of Africa and its global diaspora to reclaim freedom, sovereignty and dignity.

I wish to draw inspiration for today’s reflections from Adom Getachew’s 2019 book, Worldmaking after Empire. It is from this work that I derive the title of my address: The Task Is Ours.

Getachew examines how generations of anticolonial thinkers and leaders sought not only to liberate their countries from colonial rule, but also to remake the international order that had sustained their domination.

These thinkers, whom Getachew calls world-makers, were animated by the conviction that while political independence was indispensable, this alone would not deliver freedom unless accompanied by a concerted effort to change how power is organised on a global scale.

They understood that the world they inherited was neither natural nor permanent.

It came into being through the political and economic choices of those who lorded over us for centuries.

Therefore, it could be remade through our own political agency.

To appreciate the scale of their worldmaking ambitions, we must understand the nature of the beast they confronted.

The late distinguished African scholar Ali Mazrui identified three historical imperatives through which the West derived immense benefits from the exploitation of Global Africa:

The labour imperative, involving the uprooting and trafficking of millions of Africans for enslavement and exploitation across the Atlantic.

The territorial imperative, concerning the partitioning of our continent, dispossession of our lands and imposition of colonial rule.

And the extractive imperative, through which our mineral wealth was exploited to propel industrial development and prosperity in other parts of the world.

These processes nurtured a shared political consciousness among generations of African people who understood that their struggles for freedom and dignity were bound together.

Dear friends,

We are gathered for an important debate about whether Pan-Africanism is still relevant and how do we unite as Africans. The reality is that we are not in a United States of Africa as Nkrumah wished for.

We find ourselves in a Union of African States, as established by the African Renaissance coalition in 2002. Even in 1963 we inherited with sovereign, independent states who guarded their borders and sovereignty jealously. So as much as we have to answer Lenin’s question of “what is to be done” with the current state of Pan-Africanism, we must also deal with the reality of what is.

Our forebears knew that colonialism would not simply end with newly independent states hoisting their flags or singing new national anthems.

Their struggle therefore pursued three interrelated objectives:

First, winning the right to self-determination and sovereign equality among nations through international law.

Second, building regional communities to protect newly independent states in Africa, the Caribbean and beyond from neo-colonial dependencies.

Third, advancing global economic redistribution through the New International Economic Order (NIEO).

Their efforts changed the course of history.

Colonial empires crumbled.

The principle of self-determination became firmly established in international law.

Newly independent countries asserted their collective voice through the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 and other international institutions.

And apartheid fell.

Today, Africa has 55 member states of the African Union, a population exceeding 1.5 billion people and some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

This is a world made possible by the worldmaking endeavours of a generation of men and women who believed that Africa’s cause must and will triumph.

But as the concept note for this conference so eloquently notes, the world we live in today still bears the scars of the wounds our forebears fought so hard to heal.

The yoke of debt weighs heavily on generations of Africans and people across the Global South.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than half of the population lives in countries that spend more on debt interest payments than on health. This is more than 350 million people.

In Africa, the latest statistics tell us that 65 percent of our population lives in countries that spend more on interest payments than on health or education.

This means that our countries are servicing debt while defaulting on development.

As leaders from Africa and the diaspora so passionately articulated during the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, Africa’s debt burden reflects the stubborn persistence of unequal and, frankly, neo-colonial power structures.

Collectively, we also suffer from what is known as the “prejudice premium”.

Our borrowing costs are significantly higher than those in other parts of the world. Countries with similar fiscal characteristics often receive more favourable credit ratings than African countries.

And when global economic shocks occur, African countries are often among the first to suffer credit rating downgrades.

According to UN Trade and Development, developing countries could collectively save as much as 500 billion US dollars every year if they borrowed at the same interest rates as developed countries.

This injustice extends beyond the global financial architecture.

The same imbalance is evident in the distribution of responsibility for, and the consequences of, the climate crisis.

From a Global African perspective, countries with large populations of African and Indigenous peoples have contributed relatively little to the climate crisis, yet they bear the brunt of its consequences.

We face rising seas and rising temperatures, droughts, devastating cyclones, floods and other extreme weather events.

We contend with the displacement of our people, destruction of our infrastructure and devastation of our livelihoods.

The surge in demand for our minerals is proving to be another terrain of struggle.

Between Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, three major hubs of Global Africa, lie significant reserves of minerals such as lithium, copper, cobalt, platinum and many others.

These riches underscore the centrality of Global Africa to the green transition.

If history teaches us anything, it is that what is strategic for the rest has often been tragic for us.

The demand for our minerals presents an opportunity to turbocharge our development, industrialisation and technological advancement.

But it also comes with the risk of reproducing familiar patterns of extraction, where resource-rich countries of the Global South supply raw materials while wealthy nations accumulate the benefits of processing, manufacturing and economic growth.

The consequences of these unequal power relations are also evident in the conflicts that continue to devastate significant parts of our continent.

Today, 40 percent of global conflicts are in Africa. More than 45 million Africans have been displaced by armed conflict and political violence, with women and children bearing a disproportionate share of the suffering.

Increasingly, these conflicts bear the imprint of an external hand.

According to Oxfam, in the last decade, 80 percent of UN Security Council resolutions concerned conflicts on the African continent.

Despite being at the centre of so many of its deliberations, Africa has no permanent seat in this powerful body.

Across our continent, citizens are demanding the reform and democratisation of the UN. In a recent survey, seven (7) in ten (10) African citizens expressed a desire for greater African influence in the global arena.

Addressing these interconnected challenges requires the consistent application of international law and a strengthened multilateral system in which Africa has an equal say.

What Adekeye Adebajo calls the curse of Berlin continues to complicate our efforts to build integrated societies and economies.

The resurgence of reactionary and right-wing politics, the retreat from progressive ideals and the growing hostility towards Pan-African solidarity present further hurdles to our agency.

These developments are compounded by an international atmosphere marked by external interference, unilateralism, renewed and emboldened imperial impulses and the manipulation of technology to undermine democracy.

This is why yesterday’s news from Brazil, home to the largest African diaspora outside our continent, is so refreshing. We congratulate President Lula da Silva on his re-election and the people of Brazil on this important democratic milestone.

In our country, one of the most troubling manifestations of this political regression is the rise of violent anti-migrant movements.

The attacks and violence against migrants, which have mostly affected migrants from our own continent, deserve not only the strongest condemnation, but also the firmest action from our law enforcement authorities.

This moment also calls on us to strengthen our capabilities to deal with disinformation, the stoking of hatred and incitement to violence. Much of this takes place behind smartphone and computer screens.

Let me assure you that we are taking the necessary steps to address these crimes.

The South African government is acting against those who exploit concerns about irregular migration to advance criminal and hate-fuelled agendas.

To date, more than 100 cases are before our courts, and over 40 investigations related to intimidation, looting and anti-migrant violence are underway.

Just days ago, four (4) people who are accused of participating in mob violence that resulted in the killing of a migrant in Durban were brought before the courts.

Our position is unequivocal: the perpetrators of these despicable acts must be held accountable.

We are also acting on the recommendations of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which found that South Africa is not inherently xenophobic or Afrophobic, but that more must be done to foster harmony between South Africans and foreign nationals.

We also heed the Commission’s counsel to address the underlying challenges of high unemployment, poverty and inequality, as well as weaknesses in border management and cross-border crime prevention.

Irregular migration is a shared challenge. No single country can manage it alone.

The average migrant in Africa is 30 years old.

Six in every ten young people between 18 and 25 have considered leaving for another country.

Every year, 12 million Africans enter the labour market. Our economies create only 3 million jobs a year.

For too many, migration is not a choice, but a decision born of necessity.

We must confront the conditions that produce this despair: scarce jobs, weak industrialisation, deep inequality and mineral wealth that too often fails to benefit the communities from which it is extracted.

Most African migrants do not move to the US or Europe. More than 80 percent of migration on our continent takes place within Africa.

So, addressing this will require African agency and collective wisdom.

As a leading destination for migrants on the continent, South Africa cannot shoulder the pressures of irregular migration alone.

And as recent Afro-barometer research shows, growing hostility towards migrants is a concerning reality across our continent.

This is why South Africa continues to call for a continent-wide dialogue to address the root causes of anti-migrant sentiment and develop Pan-African responses to violence, discrimination and xenophobia.

To be frank, we are also worried about the convergence between the peddlers of the white genocide narrative and the organisers of violent anti-migrant actions.

Their common enterprise seeks to divide our nation, undermine our democracy and fracture our solidarity with the rest of Africa.

What, then, does it mean to exercise our worldmaking agency under these conditions?

Across our continent and the diaspora, we are already taking concrete steps to challenge the structures of domination and injustice.

The pursuit of reparative justice is gathering momentum.

Through the efforts of the AU, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the diaspora at large, the UN General Assembly adopted a historic declaration recognising the trafficking and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.

Under Togo’s stewardship, the General Assembly also adopted the “Correct the Map” resolution to address distortions that have long depicted Africa as smaller than it is.

The struggle for economic justice is equally important.

Through South Africa’s G20 Presidency, we placed debt sustainability and inequality at the centre of the global agenda. Our proposal for an International Panel on Inequality is gaining momentum.

The launch of the Borrowers’ Platform as a counterweight to creditor power, and the establishment of the continental Credit Rating Agency, are important steps in challenging a global financial system that conspires against our development aspirations.

These initiatives reinforce the calls from the Africa Expert Panel for greater transparency in the work of credit rating agencies.

Across our continent, governments are enacting policies to retain more value from their natural resources through beneficiation, processing and manufacturing, particularly in the critical minerals sector.

We must also assert our health sovereignty.

The drastic cuts in international aid have placed additional pressure on African health systems at a time when we are battling diseases, including Ebola and m-pox.

But we are not wallowing in despair. African countries are pooling their resources to strengthen the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and its response to public health emergencies.

South Africa has contributed 13.5 million US dollars towards the Ebola response.

And lastly, peace and security are another frontier of African agency.

We must protect Africa’s place in the driver’s seat when it comes to conflict resolution, mediation and peacebuilding on our continent.

This commitment to collective African agency also informs South Africa’s tenure as Chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional community of 16 African states.

We are investing in development and trade corridors to break the neo-colonial pattern where our roads and rail network lead only towards the ports to distant markets without connecting each other.

We are investing in infrastructure to move goods more efficiently across our borders, expand intra-regional trade and advance Agenda 2063’s vision of a more integrated Africa.

We are also coordinating our efforts to anticipate external shocks and strengthen regional preparedness and responses to climate disasters.

The anti-colonial generation changed an international order that denied African peoples their freedom and dignity. But the structures of domination have proven far more resilient.

Allow me then to conclude with the words of a remarkable African in the diaspora – Adom Getachew – who reminds us:

“While we … no longer inhabit the political and ideological contexts that gave shape to the visions of a domination-free international order that anti-colonial world-makers pursued, the task of building a world after empire remains ours as much as it was theirs.”

The task of building a world free of domination, free of occupation, free of wars and genocide remains ours as much as it was theirs.

Thank you.

ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND COOPERATION

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