OPINION: “Africa Loves America”… Or Africans Who Can Afford To Do

Patrice Motsepe, who made the controversial statement, “Africa loves America,” at the 2020 World Economic Forum, is interviewed at the World Economic Forum in 2015. (Wikimedia Commons)

“Africa loves America. Africa loves you [President Donald Trump].” South African billionaire and businessman Patrice Motsepe made this statement at the World Economic Forum on January 23, according to Eyewitness News. His words have sparked controversy after spreading on Twitter.

One Twitter user joked, “I wanna be so successful like #patricemotsepe so that I can speak on behalf of a whole continent.” Others used Motsepe’s comment to critique their own societies, claiming that people “worship Americans everyday,” particularly their “culture, celebrities, entertainment, etc.” While this statement contains generalizations, the Pew Research Center found that 62 percent of those surveyed in Nigeria, along with 60 percent in Kenya, and 50 percent in South Africa, see the U.S. favorably. Weeks later, Trump announced his intent to add Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, and Eritrea to the travel ban list, according to Quartz Africa.

Despite rising tensions between the U.S. and certain African countries, Motsepe was not without his supporters. Another Twitter user wrote, “Patrice Motsepe is 100 percent correct. In a globalized world, the success of America becomes the success of Africa...” The tweet begs the question, who is included in the “success of Africa”? The controversy caused by Motsepe’s statement reveals a divide between an elite class that exalts the West and those who are exploited and patronized by it.

The UN found that income inequality has risen in many southern and central African countries, while it has decreased in West Africa, creating a complex economic map. Nevertheless, South Africa, Motsepe’s home country, remains the most unequal country in the world, according to World Bank estimates. As one Twitter user put it, “Motsepe has some truth. Love is not just a feeling but also acts of reverence and honor. African leaders revere imperialism and capitalism.”