How Imperialism Sabotages African Sovereignty: The Contradictions between Economic Sanctions and Free Trade

Abstract

This paper highlights how sanctions regimes constitute economic warfare and are thus incompatible with free trade. It centres on the efforts of The International People’s Tribunal on US Imperialism, which held a series of virtual hearings in 2023 to assess the impact of sanctions, blockades and economic coercive measures against various countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. The participants of the Tribunal documented sanctions’ debilitating impact. As an economic weapon that perpetuates imperialist domination under neocolonial terms, sanctions undermine the power of free trade. This paper details the conclusions derived from the Tribunal to argue that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) cannot succeed under conditions of imperialist economic coercion. Instead, the AfCFTA must be undergirded by a Pan-Africanist and internationalist ideological orientation that enables all African countries to operate on equal terms and as genuine trade partners.