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At the 50th anniversary celebration of UK African Liberation Day, Pan-African thinker and author Joshua Maponga delivered a powerful message about Africa’s resources, colonial history and the future of the continent.
Speaking at the Birmingham event organized by the Pan-African Congress Movement, Maponga challenged what he describes as the lasting effects of colonial extraction and unequal global systems. His message centered on a question increasingly raised in conversations about Africa’s economic future: Who controls Africa’s land, resources and wealth?
Maponga argued that African nations and communities must take a greater role in determining how their natural resources are used and who benefits from them. He also criticized what he views as double standards surrounding conservation and development, calling for greater consistency and fairness in how global policies affect African communities.
The conversation reflects a wider debate. Researchers have documented how colonial land policies and resource extraction shaped many present-day inequalities and how some conservation models have displaced or excluded Indigenous and local communities from their ancestral lands.
For Maponga, the message is clear: Africa’s future must include greater control over its resources, stronger self-determination and systems designed to ensure that the continent’s wealth benefits its own people.
Source: @sovereign_media
