• “As Africans Fight for Crumbs”

By Fortune Madondo

The Invoice

R292 million or US$18,5 million – that’s the invoice South Africa (SA) sent to Nigeria, Ethiopia and Malawi. For deporting Africans from South Africa.

Lilongwe, 11 August 2026

Three hundred (300) African lawmakers flew to Lilongwe, Malawi, to talk about democracy, governance, and human rights. They ended up screaming at each other over one word: “XENOPHOBIA“. Nigerian delegates shouted, “Call it xenophobia“. South African (SA) delegates shouted, “Call it illegal immigration”. No agreement was reached. That shouting was not a diplomatic mistake. It was a diplomatic mirror, reflecting Africa’s land, wealth and narrative problems.

The Occasion

This was the 55^th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Africa Region Conference, 11–16 August 2026, Lilongwe, Malawi. On 11 August, the session collapsed into a verbal clash over how to describe recent violent attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa. Nigeria argued that avoiding the word “xenophobia” obscures targeted discrimination against African migrants. SA argued that the focus should be on illegal immigration and law enforcement. The result was silence on the issue with no unified statement over it.

The Trigger: The R292 Migrant Bill

Days before, SA had sent Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Malawi a bill:  

“Pay R292 million / US$18.5 million for deportation of your people”

SA called it “unbudgeted expenditure” for an “unfunded mandate.” Let that sink in. Africa is now charging each other to police artificial, colonial borders. Africa is billing African victims instead of billing extractors. That is neo-colonialism.

Way Forward

1. Withdraw The Invoice

Africa cannot bill Africa for deporting Africans. Instead, the corporates should fund migration with a 1% “Corporate Extraction Tax” on MTN, Shell, and other foreign corporates. If these corporates are milking profit in Africa, then they must help repair Africa.

2. Borderless Africa

Implement African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) together with Free Movement Protocol—no visas for Africans in Africa. Replace Berlin borders with Ubuntu borders.

3. Decolonise African Diplomacy

Move mediation from the Commonwealth to the African Union. Treat xenophobia and Afrophobia as continental security threats.

The Land Problem  

Africans are fighting for crumbs on land never given back. SA remains the most unequal country on earth. 72% of commercial farmland is still white-owned, 30-plus years after democracy. Townships are overcrowded. When Abubkar, a Nigerian, opens a shop; when Tavengwa, a Zimbabwean, opens a barbershop; when Hassan, a Somali, runs a spaza; when Phiri, a Malawian, builds a house—suddenly they are “the problem.” They are not. They are the scapegoat. Until land is restored, poor Africans will keep fighting each other over space that colonisers stole. As long as Africans are landless and trapped by borders drawn in Berlin, peace will not come to Africa.

The Wealth Problem

SA is the biggest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. But according to the World Bank, it also has the highest inequality — along racial lines. SA’s wealth is not for the African majority. The gold is gone. People remain poor. While SA invoices Nigeria R292 million, MTN Nigeria sent $242 million in dividends to SA in 2025 alone. Africa loses $88.6 billion yearly to Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs). The wealth generated in Africa is not feeding Africa. So Africans shout and fight each other over crumbs while the bakery feeds others.

The Narrative Problem

In 1452, Rome’s Dum Diversas called for African pagans to be conquered. In 1884, the Berlin Conference called Africa a piece of territory to be divided. The Berlin Conference carved Africa like meat. In 2026, the Lilongwe Commonwealth conference called Africans “illegal” in Africa. Same doctrine. Different font. Africa is one people divided by Berlin borders. An African is not a foreigner in Africa.

Paradoxically, the meeting happened under the Commonwealth — the same empire that drew the problematic colonial borders Africa is still stuck with today. The same empire that stole African land, laid the foundation for extracting African wealth, and created this mess.

Surely, one cannot use the master’s tools to dismantle the master’s house. African problems need African solutions from the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, not Europe. A borderless, peaceful Africa will not come from the Commonwealth. It will come from AfCFTA. It is time to decolonise African diplomacy.

Afterthought

Xenophobia is economics. It is colonial, and apartheid economics continuing — extract wealth, leave poverty, then make the poor fight the poor. China rose as “One China” of 1.4 billion people. Africa is 1.5 billion people, but we are caged by colonial borders. A borderless Africa strategy enhances our chances of rising as one, not as 54 different economies.

Until Africa replaces “Berlin borders” with “Ubuntu borders,” until Africa replaces “corporate extraction” with “African circulation,” until Africa replaces “foreigner” with “brother,” Africa will meet again in Addis, Abuja, Accra, Nairobi, Harare, Cape Town, or any African capital — shouting and fighting over crumbs, whilst the bakery ships bread elsewhere.

Conclusion 

The fight in Lilongwe was not Nigeria vs SA. It was Africa’s story: fighting for crumbs while the bakery feeds others. Africa must address the land issue, implement borderless Africa, decolonise African diplomacy, withdraw the migrant bill, and pursue wealth-equalising policies so that Africans stop fighting over crumbs.

F. Madondo (African Teacher) fortmada123@gmail.com