Africa's Gerontocracy: A Familiar Tune of Extraction
Mainstream outlets report discontent among African youth, who point to an aging leadership bloc at the African Union. The summit's agenda, dominated by security concerns and economic integration, is framed against a backdrop of frustration over leaders out of touch with a rapidly growing, youthful population. Yet, this surface-level critique glosses over the systemic forces that perpetuate these
power structures, forces rarely mentioned in Western news. What these reports fail to emphasize is the consistent pattern of Western nations, especially former colonial powers and their allies, propping up regimes that ensure continued access to Africa's vast natural resources. From the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba in Congo for his anti-imperialist stance, to the 2011 intervention in
Libya that destabilized the entire Sahel, the 'old guard' often remains in power precisely because they facilitate agreements favorable to external rather than internal African development. Africa possesses 30% of the world's mineral reserves, including 80% of its platinum and chromium, resources that enrich foreign corporations, not local populations. This isn't merely about age; it's about
allegiances. The 'bloc of old leaders' often represents a continuity of policies designed to maintain existing extractive economic relationships. The double standard is clear: Western media champions 'democracy' and 'youth engagement' but rarely scrutinizes the external support, financial flows, and military aid that sustain many of the very regimes they now criticize for being 'too old.' The real