In what world does it make sense? A continent that feeds the world’s future, whose soil is rich with cobalt, lithium, gold and rare earth minerals, minerals that power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles cannot provide it’s citizens with life saving treatment for diseases like HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis. What an ironic and dangerous imbalance!
Even the suggestion that access to critical medication could be influenced by political or economic negotiations should be enough to unsettle each and everyone of us. Whether tied to shifting foreign policy or broader geopolitical tensions, the message beneath it is that dependence leaves you exposed. And Africa, for all its wealth, remains exposed to it’s core.
For years, global health interventions have played a crucial role in saving lives. Programs such as PEPFAR have turned the tide of the HIV epidemic, extending life expectancy and restoring hope across communities that once faced devastation. But aid is aid at the end of the day. And no matter how transformative it might be, it will never be neutral. It exists within political systems, shaped by interests that are not always aligned with those of the recipients. It can be reduced or redirected at any moment without warning. That is the nature of assistance that originates beyond your borders. The fact that it is never fully yours.
That is the problem we now face. Africa exports value but imports survival. Countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo supply the majority of the world’s cobalt, a mineral that has become indispensable in the global transition to clean energy. The world cannot build its future without Africa’s resources. Yet Africa still negotiates for its present from a position that is weaker than it should be. That is the problem we now face. A continent so essential to the global economy, but one that cannot guarantee consistent access to its own medical needs.
Surely, at this point who is to blame? Why are our leaders so weak and greedy? Who will save the African continent? But at the same time, aren’t our leaders a reflection of who we are as a people? Are we all weak and greedy?
African presidents do not care for their people, and then wonder (and complain bitterly) when they are bundled into buses like school children when on foreign trips. Who will award you any respect or dignity when you cannot afford to give the same to your citizens?
It is tempting to look outward for blame and frame the issue as one of exploitation alone. And certainly, there is a well documented history of unequal exchange and extractive relationships. But focusing only on external actors risks missing the deeper issue. The more uncomfortable truth is that Africa has not yet built the systems that would make such vulnerability impossible. Decades after independence, many countries still lack strong pharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities. Whether by design is a topic for another day. All we know is that essential medicines are overwhelmingly imported, health systems remain fragile and that most African countries are often one funding decision away from strain or collapse. This is just simple unpreparedness. Nothing more, nothing less.
What makes this moment significant is not any single political figure or administration. Even someone as polarizing and influential as Donald Trump is ultimately temporary. Leaders come and go and rhetoric evolves. But the underlying power dynamics remain; as long as Africa relies on others for its most basic needs, it will always be negotiating from a place of disadvantage, no matter who is in office or what promises are made.
The real wake up call, then, is that Africa cannot continue to depend on external systems for survival while serving as the backbone of the global economy. The only durable solution lies in changing the terms of engagement entirely by building local industries and treating healthcare not as a sector of dependency but as a pillar of sovereignty.
