Skip to main content
Still bleeding Africa dry
From slavery to colonialism to the modern era of ‘full-spectrum dominance,’ the West has never released its grip on the continent or its people, writes ROGER McKENZIE
Workers mine cobalt without equipment in Democratic Republic of Congo

THE current scramble between the major powers for influence over African nations is a battle for the natural resources that exist on the continent which are vital to sustaining the economies and lifestyles of the West.

Stripped down to bare bones: it’s a question of safeguarding and increasing profits.

The US, at least, can’t be accused of pretending anything other than profits are its main motivator. The US doctrine of full-spectrum dominance has been clear about this since it was adopted in 1997.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Features / 16 April 2025
16 April 2025
From the TUC Race Relations Committee to national union treasurers, a new generation of formidable black women leaders are breaking barriers and transforming the movement through uncompromising politics, writes ROGER McKENZIE
(L-R) Former World Heavyweight Champions Joe Frazier, George
Obituary / 24 March 2025
24 March 2025
ROGER McKENZIE writes about late boxing legend Foreman’s legacy, from his part in Rumble in the Jungle to becoming world heavyweight champion at 45
AFRICAN HERO: A Walter Rodney poster in Georgetown, Guyana
Features / 20 March 2025
20 March 2025
The Guyanese scholar’s groundbreaking work revealed how Europe deliberately underdeveloped Africa while using its resources and people to fuel Western capitalism, writes ROGER MCKENZIE
A plenary session during the Bandung Conference, 1955
Features / 9 January 2025
9 January 2025
China’s huge growth and trade success have driven the expansion of the Brics alliance — now is a good time for the global South to rediscover 1955’s historic Bandung conference, and learn its lessons, writes ROGER McKENZIE
Similar stories
AFRICAN HERO: A Walter Rodney poster in Georgetown, Guyana
Features / 20 March 2025
20 March 2025
The Guyanese scholar’s groundbreaking work revealed how Europe deliberately underdeveloped Africa while using its resources and people to fuel Western capitalism, writes ROGER MCKENZIE
LEGACY OF BRUTALITY: (L to R) Congolese slave whipped with a
Features / 6 March 2025
6 March 2025
ROGER McKENZIE argues that Africa's ultimate liberation depends on its ability to decolonise itself including the redrawing of its present national borders imposed by Europe
The Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali. The first mosque on the si
Features / 2 January 2025
2 January 2025
The revolutions in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso against the old colonial powers are seldom understood in terms of Africans’ own agency and their rejection of the imperialist humiliation thrust upon them, writes ROGER McKENZIE
PAST INFORMS FUTURE: Bronze statues, in a free arrangement,
Features / 12 December 2024
12 December 2024
Following the Eurocentric pathways to identity and development are a fallacy that is holding Africa back, ROGER McKENZIE argues