Ramaphosa Calls for Concrete Action on African Unity Amid Shifting Global Order
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged African leaders to move beyond rhetoric and take practical steps toward continental integration as geopolitical realignments reshape the global landscape.
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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has issued a clarion call for African nations to translate decades of pan-African rhetoric into tangible action, warning that the continent risks being marginalised as the world's geopolitical architecture undergoes fundamental transformation.
Speaking as global power dynamics shift away from the post-Cold War unipolar order toward a more fragmented multipolar system, Ramaphosa emphasised that Africa's moment demands more than symbolic gestures. The continent, home to 1.4 billion people and projected to account for a quarter of the world's population by 2050, faces a critical juncture where practical cooperation could determine whether it emerges as a unified force or remains a collection of vulnerable individual states.
Beyond Declarations: The Implementation Gap
Ramaphosa's intervention addresses a persistent challenge in African regional integration: the chasm between high-level commitments and ground-level implementation. The African Union's Agenda 2063, adopted more than a decade ago, outlined an ambitious blueprint for continental transformation. Yet progress on key pillars—from the African Continental Free Trade Area to infrastructure connectivity—has proceeded unevenly across the continent's 55 member states.
According to SABC News, President Ramaphosa "called for practical steps to build a better Africa," a formulation that signals impatience with the ceremonial diplomacy that has characterised some regional gatherings. The South African leader's emphasis on actionable measures reflects growing recognition among African policymakers that the continent's window of opportunity may be narrowing as other regions consolidate their strategic positions.
The geopolitical landscape Ramaphosa referenced has indeed shifted markedly. The United States and China continue their strategic competition for influence across Africa, while Russia has expanded its footprint through security partnerships and resource extraction agreements. The European Union, meanwhile, has recalibrated its approach to African partnerships amid migration pressures and energy security concerns following the disruption of Russian gas supplies.
Infrastructure and Economic Integration as Foundation
The practical steps Ramaphosa advocates likely centre on accelerating infrastructure development and deepening economic integration—areas where concrete progress remains elusive despite repeated commitments. The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa, launched in 2012, identified 51 priority projects across transport, energy, and telecommunications. Yet financing gaps and coordination challenges have delayed many initiatives.
The African Continental Free Trade Area, which commenced trading in January 2021, represents the continent's most significant recent integration achievement. However, implementation has been hampered by non-tariff barriers, inadequate trade facilitation infrastructure, and limited productive capacity in many member states. Intra-African trade still accounts for only 15 percent of the continent's total trade, compared to 59 percent within Asia and 67 percent within Europe.
South Africa, as the continent's most industrialised economy and a founding member of the BRICS bloc, occupies a pivotal position in shaping African integration. Under Ramaphosa's leadership, Pretoria has sought to balance its role as a regional economic anchor with broader continental ambitions, though domestic challenges—including electricity shortages and economic inequality—have constrained its capacity to drive integration initiatives.
Security and Sovereignty in a Multipolar World
The shifting geopolitical landscape Ramaphosa highlighted also encompasses security dimensions. African nations increasingly find themselves navigating competing security partnerships, from the United States' military presence in the Sahel to Russia's Wagner Group deployments in the Central African Republic and Mali. This fragmentation has complicated efforts to build continental security architectures under African Union auspices.
The withdrawal of French forces from Mali and the subsequent pivot toward Russian security cooperation illustrated how external power competition can undermine regional cohesion. Similarly, the proliferation of bilateral agreements between African states and external powers—often negotiated without regional coordination—has created a patchwork of overlapping commitments that can work at cross purposes.
Ramaphosa's call for practical unity implicitly acknowledges that Africa's ability to negotiate favourable terms with external partners depends on presenting a unified front. Individually, African nations possess limited leverage in negotiations over trade terms, investment conditions, or security arrangements. Collectively, the continent commands significant bargaining power through its demographic weight, natural resources, and strategic geography.
The Path Forward: From Aspiration to Implementation
Translating Ramaphosa's call into concrete outcomes will require addressing several structural obstacles. Financing remains a primary constraint, with African governments collectively spending more on debt servicing than on health or education in many cases. Mobilising domestic resources through improved tax collection and reducing illicit financial flows could provide some fiscal space, but the scale of infrastructure investment required likely necessitates innovative financing mechanisms.
Political will represents another critical variable. Regional integration inevitably requires member states to cede some sovereignty to supranational institutions—a proposition that encounters resistance from governments protective of their prerogatives. The African Union's limited enforcement mechanisms mean that member states can sign agreements without facing meaningful consequences for non-implementation.
As the global order continues its transformation, with established powers seeking to maintain influence while emerging powers assert their interests, African nations face a choice. They can pursue integration with the urgency Ramaphosa advocates, positioning the continent as a coherent actor capable of shaping its own trajectory. Or they can continue with incremental progress, risking relegation to the margins of a multipolar world where other regions have consolidated their positions. The practical steps Ramaphosa demands will determine which path the continent ultimately takes.