The African continent holds an estimated 30 percent of the world’s mineral reserves and 60 percent of its uncultivated arable land, with rivers powerful enough, in theory, to supply half the globe with electricity. And yet more than 400 million Africans still live below the poverty line. More than seventy years after colonial rule formally ended, the bleeding has not stopped — it has simply changed form. Yesterday it was gold and oil. Today, it is human life.

Just days ago, thousands of young people — mostly from the Kingdom of Morocco, alongside Africans from various countries — broke through the border fence in the occupied Moroccan city of Ceuta and crossed into Spanish territory. It is a scene that repeats itself again and again. These are not adventurers. They are young people whose own countries could have put their labor to use in production and development, for a decent wage. Instead, many chose death at sea and in the desert over remaining in a homeland that does not value them.

Rich in Resources, Poor by Design

Africa’s economy, the column argues, remains captive to raw materials: cocoa is sold for two dollars a unit while the chocolate made from it is bought back for twenty. Crude oil is exported while gasoline and plastics are imported. That imbalance leaves the continent impoverished in the very heart of its wealth.

The problem is compounded by demographics. Sixty percent of the continent’s population is under 25 — the largest human resource pool in the world — yet much of it remains unemployed or working on the margins, unproductive and without hope. Corruption, meanwhile, is estimated by the World Bank to cost the continent $148 billion annually, a sum the column notes would be enough to build tens of thousands of factories and employ millions.

“We sell cocoa for two dollars and buy chocolate for twenty. We export crude oil and import gasoline and plastics. This imbalance leaves us impoverished in the heart of our wealth.” Alaeldeen Mohammed Abakar

A State Built to Tax, Not to Develop

On the political front, the column contends that ruling elites across the continent inherited states whose primary function is taxation rather than development — governed with no vision for the next twenty years, only a contest for power every four or five years. When citizens sense that the law does not protect them, that promotion depends on favoritism, and that their ambitions are unreachable, their first instinct is to leave.

Wars and conflicts that consume half of some national budgets, combined with weak continental integration, deepen the problem — to the point, the column notes, that exporting goods from Africa to Europe is often easier than exporting them from one African country to its neighbor.

Europe’s Quiet Benefit

The column argues that Europe, while publicly voicing alarm over migration, quietly benefits from it — gaining cheap labor for agriculture and factories, and drawing on migrants in sports, defense, and services. Wages earned abroad are often many times higher than what the same worker could earn at home, particularly given currency disparities. When migrants send money back, it becomes a major source of national income; in many countries, remittances now rank as the second-largest source of revenue after oil — a fact the column describes not as a strength, but as a symptom of failure.

“If this trend continues, Africa is projected to lose more than 200 million productive young people within the next twenty years. Europe will age and need them, while we will age without anyone to support us or build for us.” Alaeldeen Mohammed Abakar

The Way Out

Rather than ending on lament, the column sets out a five-point response:

1. Stop exporting raw materials unprocessed. Every ton of cotton should yield a finished shirt; every ton of oil should yield fertilizers and plastics. Agricultural and mineral processing alone, the column argues, could generate ten million direct jobs — paired with a national youth fund offering low-interest loans to project ideas, turning “death boats” into “productive workshops.”
2. Build states of institutions. A peaceful transfer of power, respect for constitutions, and anti-corruption enforcement without exceptions — plus genuine decentralization that moves development out of capital cities and into the regions.
3. Restructure education. Seventy percent of curricula should shift toward technical, vocational, and agricultural training, producing technicians, programmers, and modern farmers rather than a generation of unemployed theoretical graduates.
4. Activate continental free trade. The African Continental Free Trade Area should be fully implemented, customs barriers removed, and major infrastructure — roads and railways — built to connect a market of 1.4 billion people.
5. Reframe the relationship with Europe. A new partnership built on “circular migration,” with contracts that safeguard workers’ rights, exchanged for genuine European investment in factories on African soil — not charity, but industry.

“The Ball Is Now in Our Court”

The column closes by rejecting the idea that colonialism remains a sufficient explanation for the continent’s condition, placing responsibility squarely on present-day African institutions and leadership.

“Europe prospered because it invested in people first, and we possess human and natural resources that no other continent has. If we don’t provide our youth with dignity, fair wages, and a clear future, they will seek it anywhere, even at the cost of their lives.” Alaeldeen Mohammed Abakar

Africa, the column concludes, will not rise until it stops expelling its children — and begins instead to embrace and invest in them.

The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Faith & Freedom News.