Kayode Fayemi called on African governments and businesses to adopt strategic clarity regarding the evolving global balance of power during a lecture in Cape Town.
The warning comes as global superpowers increase their influence across the continent. Fayemi said that Africa must avoid becoming a mere theatre for external competition to ensure its own development and unity.
Speaking at the 16th [1] Thabo Mbeki Africa Day Lecture, the international scholar and Nigerian politician focused on the theme of rebuilding African unity. He said that the continent requires a realistic approach to how it engages with foreign powers to prevent being used as a stage for great-power rivalry.
Fayemi said that the future of the continent depends on the ability of its leaders to connect inspiration with implementation. He said that strategic clarity is necessary to navigate the shifts in international influence without sacrificing regional autonomy.
According to the lecture's focus, the goal is to promote a framework where African unity is not undermined by external pressures. Fayemi said that businesses and governments must align their interests to protect the continent's long-term sovereignty.
“Africa cannot become merely a theatre for external competition”
This call for 'strategic realism' reflects a growing concern among African intellectuals that the continent may be sidelined in the geopolitical competition between the West and emerging powers. By urging leaders to move beyond inspiration toward implementation, Fayemi is highlighting the gap between the rhetoric of Pan-Africanism and the practical economic dependencies that often leave African nations vulnerable to external influence.
