The Trump administration’s “America First” doctrine, while intended to reassert U.S. dominance, may have inadvertently planted the seeds of a modern Pan-African resurgence. By deprioritizing Africa in its foreign policy, slashing aid budgets, and imposing steep tariffs that undercut trade programs like AGOA, the U.S. exposed African nations to economic volatility—and, in doing so, jolted them toward greater self-reliance.
Leaders across the continent responded not with outrage, but reflection. Many viewed the U.S. retreat as a long-overdue wake-up call. Regional integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area accelerated. Countries began renegotiating resource deals and expanding partnerships beyond Western powers. The diversification of global allies—especially China and Russia—gave African states more bargaining power than ever before.
In sidelining multilateral diplomacy, Trump weakened the very institutions that once constrained African agency. And while controversial rhetoric sparked outrage, it also united African governments and diasporic communities in a renewed call for dignity, sovereignty, and narrative control.
This wasn’t empowerment by design—it was empowerment by disruption. In the cracks left by retreating empires, Pan-Africanism is evolving, not as a nostalgic ideal, but as a practical strategy for survival and strength in a multipolar world. Sometimes, it is in being forgotten that one remembers their own power.
