A Resurgent Colonialism in Africa.

By Takura Zhangazha*

It was Franz Fanon that wrote on what he referred to as “A Dying Colonialism”.  In this collection of essays, Fanon was generally optimistic about the future of Africa and its revolutionary and liberatory ethos.  Already in “The Wretched of the Earth” he had also sort of indicated the ambiguity of what liberation meant and how in part ‘mimicry’ of the colonial would occur.  A reality that we live with to this day. 

An over-admiration and again mimicry of global north societies as determined by global capitalism and culture. 

Now there are many angles to Fanon’s argumentation.  And they have been widely explored academically and politically. 

What is however important is to recognize the historicity of his arguments in the contemporary.  And come to an understanding of the same in its occurrence in the contemporary. 

Whereas Fanon, through his articles and speeches assumed we were faced with a dying colonialism, despite being the ‘Wretched of the Earth’ he may have misread the fact of global post-colonial continuity.  And its broader impact on contemporary African mindsets.  Both politically and more significantly economically.

In this brief wirte up I will attempt at a juxtaposition of the revolutionary theory of Franz Fanon and what obtains in Africa today. 

With a particular emphasis on my own region of origin, Southern Africa.  

When Fanon wrote about a "dying colonialism" he was, as stated earlier, relatively optimistic.  His essays as a journalist were designed to give hope to a new consciousness for many an African.  Even though he was from Martinique and had fought in the Algerian struggle for independence. 

The key issue however was the fact that he recognized the continuance of an elitist comprador bourgeoisie taking over African states and claiming a progressive form of liberatory politics.  This was to be an issue further expanded by Julius Nyerere, Robert Mugabe and Thabo Mbeki. 

This may seem an abstract argument but its significance resides in the fact of again its historicity. We were Pan Africanists.  We have to remain Pan Africanists.

Our electoral politics have been reflecting a departure from this.  And our inter-generational praxis clearly has misunderstood the same.

The reality is that we are in a bad space as Africans.  We are willingly forgetting the fact of our history.  And histories. 

Its almost like a Dambudzo Marechera argument where he says “We are what we are not. That is the paradox of fiction” in his acclaimed novella “The Black Insider”. 

The main issues are around a new Pan Africanism.  One that defies what we consider old, abstract and conservative.

In this conundrum is our education system. Wherein we have relatively naïve assumptions that the more European our kids are, in relation to their education, the better they will be in life.  Something we know not to be true. 

The Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) is as important as the Cambridge one.  If you suffer from an inferiority complex, its understandable. But take better charge of you family and wife or husband.

As Africans we are faced with a new consciousness era.  One in which our placement in the global placement of politics and economics means we are lesser beings in the global scheme of things.  Whether we are with China or Russia. Or even the controversial United States of America or the increasingly racist European Union (EU).

So we have to heed the call for a new Pan Africanism beyond what Kwame Nkrumah recognized. As he said, "We neither look East or West, but we Look Forward."

In the contemporary and for the future, as Africans, we understand the  fact of who we are. Where we are and where we can be.

Even as we cross borders to sadly die in the Sahel and the Mediterranean Sea.

If Fanon could write about a dying colonialism, we can write about the need for caution about a returning colonialism.  And we must resist this.  We are not that shallow nor that abstract.

We hold true that the African Union and SADC will defend us as they recognize our liberation struggle histories and our contemporary challenges.

As difficult as it may be and seem.    

*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity (takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)