Sare Şanlı on Africa & Global Affairs

Throughout history, the African continent has witnessed countless wars, massacres, and genocides. While the crimes committed by European colonizers are now learned through books, archives, and documentaries, today’s tragedies in Sudan, Congo, and other African nations unfold before our eyes—streamed live on our screens. Yet little has changed. The wars raging for years in Sudan and Congo are often reduced to a few superficial news briefs, barely making a dent in our collective conscience. On social media, they appear only briefly, slipping into the “explore” pages of a handful of users. In newspapers, almost no one deems these tragedies “worthy” of attention. The empathy shown for Gaza gives hope; but how can we explain our silence toward Africa? Have we become so conditioned to seeing Africa through the images of “hunger, famine, poverty, and endless wars” that every tragedy there now feels “ordinary”? No African mother gives birth knowing her child will die of hunger; no fath...

 While the deep scars left by British, French, and Belgian colonialism are often discussed, Portugal’s equally systematic, brutal, and destructive colonial regime in Africa has largely remained in the shadows. This silence is no accident—it is the result of Portugal’s deliberate promotion of its so-called “civilizing mission” and the myth of being a non-racist empire, a myth known as Lusotropicalism . Yet, Portugal’s centuries-long presence in Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea-Bissau not only extracted natural resources but also systematically exploited human lives, dismantled family structures, and eroded social cohesion. Anyone questioning why African nations struggle to develop today must confront this less visible but deeply corrosive form of colonialism. Among these histories, Mozambique stands as one of the most striking examples of that trauma. Mozambique under the Grip of Portuguese Colonialism Portugal’s first contact with Mozambique began with Vasco da Gama’s voyage in...

Two years after the discovery of mass graves in Kenya's Shakahola Forest that horrified the world in 2023, the scale of the tragedy continues to grow. Over 400 people, including children, lost their lives in a deadly fast, lured by the promise of "meeting Jesus." Autopsies revealed that most victims died of starvation, while others were brutally beaten or suffocated. The Shakahola disaster exposed far more than just the grim result of so-called pastor Paul Mackenzie's heretical teachings; it laid bare the extent of religious exploitation in Africa. The Seeds of Exploitation Were Sown in the Colonial Era The roots of what happened in Shakahola trace back to the continent's bleeding wound: its colonial past. Without a doubt, Christianity served as a key tool for European countries in the colonization of Africa. Missioners branded Africa's ancient beliefs as "primitive," presenting their own religion as superior and salvific. The teachings of the Bi...

Imagine a professional killer — not one who shoots openly, but one who destroys quietly, systematically, and with surgical precision. He drains health resources, prepares the ground for deadly diseases, crushes the spirit — so that when the victim finally dies, no trace remains. The killer moves on, planning his next murders with the comfort of knowing he will never be blamed. This is precisely the mechanism at work in today’s Congo. Some die in the fighting, but millions more share a slower, more insidious fate: poisoned in mines, violated into silence, deprived of healthcare, and forced into constant displacement — each step bringing them closer to death. The Congo has become, in Achille Mbembe’s terms, a vast laboratory of necropolitics — a regime where power decides who may live and who must be left to die. Global actors, corporations, and regional proxies (Rwanda, Uganda, and the corrupt Congolese elite) keep their hands clean while perpetuating the same sinister logic that cre...

In Zambia, the fact that the Witchcraft Act imposed by British colonizers in 1914 is still in force has recently become a topic of debate again. Two people were sentenced to two years in prison each for allegedly attempting to kill President Hakainde Hichilema using witchcraft. The claim that the president could have died within five days if the spell had been successful was as striking as the "evidence" used: a live chameleon, a piece of red cloth, white powders, and an animal tail. Shortly before this incident, rumors had spread across the country that Hichilema himself was preparing a spell using parts from the corpse of his predecessor, Edgar Lungu. Such rumors reveal how witchcraft functions on the political stage and expose the contradictions between colonial legacy and modern law in Zambia. Witchcraft as an Economic Sector Before colonialism, the authority of chiefs or kings was based on supernatural powers. After independence, the belief that politicians possess...

While the world still associates Africa with hunger and malnutrition, a different danger is quietly infiltrating the continent's tables: ultra-processed foods. African cuisine, once renowned for its natural, balanced diet rich in fibre, vegetables, and grains, is now seeing its dishes replaced by packaged, long-shelf-life products with low nutritional value. While the threat of famine persists in certain regions of the continent, chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes are also beginning to rise. Major food companies that have reached market saturation in Europe and America have set their sights on the African and Asian markets, which are subject to fewer regulations and have rapidly growing youth populations. This sharp shift in food preferences is causing profound dietary changes and serious health problems in Africa and Asia. Research shows that sales of ultra-processed foods in developing countries doubled between 2006 and 2019. For instance, nearly half of the diet of lo...

Qatar-Africa Relations In recent years, Africa has become the new chessboard for global competition and influence struggles. The continent is attracting the attention of world powers not only for its natural resources but also for its rapidly growing population, young workforce, vast agricultural land, and geopolitical importance. Numerous powers, from China and India to Turkey and the Gulf states, are striving to strengthen relations with African nations and establish a foothold on the continent. In late August, Doha-backed Al Mansour Holdings pledged a total of $103 billion in investments to six African countries, announcing Qatar's entry into this race with a clear "I'm here too in Africa." The sum is notable as one of the largest single investment packages from Gulf countries in recent years. In other words, Qatar has made a large-scale move that brings its investments on the continent close to, or potentially even surpasses, the volume of Saudi Arabia and the...

Does banning foreign investors protect local entrepreneurs or shrink the economy? This policy, tried in many African nations, is now on the agenda in Tanzania. The Tanzanian government has banned foreigners from establishing businesses in 15 sectors, aiming to "protect the local population." However, history shows that such radical protectionist policies often produce the exact opposite of the intended results. The regulation covers a broad range of areas, from mobile money transfers to beauty salons, and from tour guiding to souvenir shops, directly affecting over 50,000 small-scale foreign entrepreneurs. The criminal penalties are severe: fines of up to ten million shillings ($4,000), up to six months in prison, visa revocation, and seizure of business assets. Not only foreigners, but Tanzanians who assist them also face fines of five million shillings and three months imprisonment. While existing businesses are permitted to operate until their licenses expire, all li...

By allowing Israel — accused of committing genocide in Gaza — to reopen its embassy in Lusaka after 52 years, Zambia has taken one of the most controversial diplomatic steps on the continent. Behind this decision lies not so much international law as a politics grounded in divine law. A country that suffered historical injustices, endured colonization, and won its independence through long struggles now presents a striking contradiction: turning a blind eye to the suffering of the Palestinian people while drawing closer to Israel. Yet the contradiction is rooted deep in Zambian politics — in a strain of Christian Zionism that frames Zambia as “God’s chosen nation in Africa.” Under that belief, relations with Israel are viewed not only as diplomatic ties but as a sacred alliance . Kenneth Kaunda’s universal Christianity Zambia’s founding leader, Kenneth Kaunda, sought to balance relations with both Israel and Palestine and to act collectively with other African states. Following t...

For centuries, Africa has been more than a site of exploitation for Europe — it has also served as a dumping ground for the unwanted. France sent its convicts and political exiles to Gabon and Djibouti. Spain relocated those it expelled from Cuba to the island of Bioko in Equatorial Guinea. Portugal deported criminals and “undesirable” individuals (the degredados ) to Angola, Mozambique, and Guinea. Thus, the continent functioned both as a field of plunder for the West’s underground wealth and as a prison for those it deemed unworthy of living in Europe. Despite the passage of time, the Western mindset has hardly changed. Today, electronic waste, discarded computers, and piles of second-hand clothes no one wants are still shipped to Africa — this time under the label of “aid.” History repeats itself. Once again, the West is seeking ways to offload what it perceives as excess — undocumented migrants, asylum seekers, and those it stigmatizes as “criminals” or “barbarians” — back ont...

As the green energy revolution and digital transformation reshape the world, Africa once again finds itself at the heart of global competition. This time, it is not oil or gold but copper—the red metal forming the backbone of the new era—that places the continent in the spotlight. Much of the world’s richest copper reserves lie in the soils of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia. From electric vehicles to solar panels, from data centers to artificial intelligence servers, nearly every component of modern infrastructure depends on copper. This invisible backbone of the new age has the potential to redefine Africa’s destiny. The International Energy Agency projects that global copper demand will rise by at least 50% by 2040. An electric vehicle requires about 80 kilograms of copper, and a single wind turbine consumes several tons. Even AI hardware alone will drive millions of tons of new copper demand annually. It is no coincidence that a Chinese billionaire who once ...