Africa: African Integration Beyond Trade - When Africans Become Foreigners in Africa
Recent anti-immigration demonstrations in South Africa have raised serious concerns about the continent's integration agenda. The violence, which included attacks on foreign-owned businesses, highlights a troubling pattern of xenophobia that undermines the African Union's goals for free movement. As South Africa grapples with these issues, the broader implications for African unity and economic cooperation are becoming increasingly evident.
- ▪In April and May 2026, anti-immigration protests in South Africa led to violence against foreign-owned businesses.
- ▪Human Rights Watch reported insufficient police response to the attacks, which resulted in at least one death.
- ▪The African Union's Protocol on Free Movement of Persons aims to facilitate the movement of citizens across the continent, but xenophobia poses a significant barrier.
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In my earlier piece in February, Beyond Preferences and Rhetoric: What Africa's 2025 Integration Moment Really Demanded I argued that Africa's long-term competitiveness would not be secured by waiting on external trade preferences, but by taking integration seriously as an economic project. I called for political will, industrial strategy, and a human-centred approach to the continental vision. I did not expect to be writing a follow-up so soon. But the events of April and May 2026 in South Africa have made this necessary. Because what is unfolding in the streets of Johannesburg, Durban, and Pretoria is a direct assault on Africa's integration agenda and can’t be seen simply as a South Africa’s issue.
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