Accra: Africa cannot build one market while Africans fear each other. What must an African carry to be accepted in Africa? A passport, a visa, a work permit, or simply fear? These are painful questions that Africa must confront.
According to Ghana Web, disturbing images of African migrants being harassed, intimidated, and driven from communities in South Africa continue to circulate across the continent, provoking more than outrage. They force a deeper examination of the contradiction at the heart of Africa's integration project. At a time when African leaders are working to build a borderless continental market, Africans are increasingly reminded that crossing a border can come at a cost-sometimes suspicious, sometimes exclusionary, and tragically, sometimes violent.
For many Africans, these scenes are difficult to reconcile with history. South Africa occupies a unique place in Africa's collective memory. During apartheid, countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zambia offered political support and safe havens to those fighting for freedom, believing that South Africa's freedom was inseparable from the continent's freedom. This backdrop makes the recurring xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks particularly disappointing.
The tragedy is not just that these attacks continue, but that they occur precisely when Africa is making its most ambitious push toward continental integration with projects like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Governments are working on interoperable payment systems and digital identity frameworks to connect over 1.4 billion people into a single economic community. However, the question remains: How do we build one African market when Africans fear crossing African borders?
These questions strike at the heart of Africa's future. Africa's integration agenda is built on the movement of goods, services, capital, and people. The first three cannot succeed sustainably without the fourth. A trader cannot benefit from AfCFTA if she is unsafe crossing a border, and a fintech entrepreneur cannot build solutions if talent cannot move freely.
This is why the response by President John Dramani Mahama deserves serious attention. Instead of confrontation, he called for the matter to be addressed by the African Union, recognizing that xenophobia in South Africa is an African issue affecting mobility, trade, investment, and integration. His approach elevates the discussion beyond emotions and bilateral tensions, placing the issue within the framework of continental governance and solutions.
While incidents may occur within one country's borders, their consequences extend beyond. When African migrants are attacked, confidence in African integration suffers. Africa cannot fight xenophobia with more xenophobia. Retaliation is not justice, and attacking South African businesses elsewhere will not solve the problem.
Honesty demands acknowledging the underlying factors fueling these tensions, including high unemployment and inequality in South Africa. Every nation has the right to regulate migration, but there must be a clear distinction between immigration enforcement and mob justice.
The African Union should seize this opportunity to address recent attacks and initiate a broader conversation about labor mobility, migration governance, youth employment, and the future of Pan-African citizenship. The continent has reached a defining moment where trust corridors must be built alongside digital, trade, and transport corridors.
The future of Africa will not be determined by technology platforms or trade agreements but by whether Africans can live, work, and thrive anywhere on the continent with dignity and safety. Xenophobia in South Africa is not just a South African problem; it is an African problem. If Africa is serious about building one market, one digital economy, and one shared future, then this issue must be addressed.