Leopard Emoji controversy: It has been a widely established fact that the West needs Africa. After the Russia-Ukraine war and Europe’s misguided sanctions against Russia backfired, the continent was left gasping for gas and faced an unprecedented energy crisis. Additionally, Europe had to swallow its pride and beg its way into Africa to secure its energy needs. Today major Western powers have started a new scramble for African resources and European leaders are flocking to Africa to woo its leaders. However, even as resource-rich Africa has the world’s attention, some European leaders can’t get over its colonial hangover. It’s shocking how racial stereotypes are still being peddled about Africa.
German foreign office insults Africa
Recently, the German foreign office while taking shots at Russia, ended up insulting and peddling an unpopular western stereotype of Africa. In a tweet, the German foreign officer said, “The Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is in Africa, not to see (leopard emoji), but to bluntly claim that Ukraine’s partners “want to destroy everything Russian”.
The German foreign officer by using the leopard emoji, implied that Africa’s wildlife was the only thing worth bringing the Russian envoy to the continent. This has sparked an uproar in Africa, with the spokesperson to the African Union chairperson, Ebba Kalondo lashing out at Germany for this racial tweet. Further, she replied by asking whether German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had also “come to see animals” when she visited the Ethiopia-based African Union headquarters this month.
Many expressed anger on Twitter over the tone-deaf German foreign office’s tweet, using a Western stereotype that Africa is a vast landscape of wild animals in the bush. Zainab Usman, head of the Africa Programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace wrote on Twitter, “Using terrible stereotypes… to score a geopolitical uppercut to an adversary in a European war will not win you any African friends. Tone deaf! Do better!”
The German foreign office’s tweet came as the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, is in southern Africa on a trip aimed at drumming support for Moscow. The West of late has been finding it extremely difficult to counter Russia’s presence in Africa, which is dismantling the Western military interventions in one African country after the other. Now, it seems the fear of Russia’s rise has gone to some of its leaders’ head.
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Europe’s old habits
This is not the first time wherein European leaders have made racial comments. In the past too, European leaders have done this, which caused worldwide outrage and received widespread condemnation. For instance, one of the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell in a speech made in Belgium said, “Europe is a garden,” but “most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden”. His speech received severe backlash and was accused of racist and colonialist overtones. Josep Borrell’s speech was offensive and reflected Western arrogance and an outdated sense of European superiority.
Germany needs Africa’s resources
Despite widespread outrage against Josep Borrell’s comments, Germany has done it again. The recent tweet exposes the west’s racist and colonialist mentality. Unfortunately, the timing of the tweet is wrong, given that Germany’s own green energy sector is at the mercy of Namibia. Germany’s Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck approached Namibia for hydrogen as the European country is considering green hydrogen as a potential fuel for their energy transition.
Read More: Germany’s Green energy sector is now at the mercy of Namibia
Such insensitive remarks are a laughable self-goal and are bound to sabotage European efforts at wooing Africa. It’s high time that European leaders wake up to reality and shed their colonial mindset. Unfortunately, the wealth that Europe is proud of has been acquired through colonial atrocities and crimes. Therefore, if Europe wants African nations to consider them as a reliable partner, the least European leaders can do is control their loose tongues and refrain from making such derogatory and ignorant comments.
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