People in Africa argue that natural resources are a blessing; it is the way these are plundered and used that can turn them into a curse. The continent has plenty of experience of such plunder. Rich in resources, Africa is a net supplier of energy and raw materials to the North.
Pan-Africanism, the perception by people of African origins and descent that they have interests in common, has been an important by-product of colonialism and the enslavement of African peoples by Europeans.
While the fate of Africa is much discussed in the West, Westerners rarely hear the voices of Africans themselves in the debate over the future of this imperiled continent. Pan-Africanism aims to unite the many different peoples of Africa and the Diaspora (in the West indies, Latin America, the U.S., and the U.K.).