North Africa's Sovereign Path: Energy Independence, Western Pressure, and the Future of the Global South

The Geopolitical Landscape of North Africa

North Africa stands at a critical juncture in international relations, where nations are actively pursuing energy independence through innovative green hydrogen projects and strategic partnerships beyond traditional Western spheres of influence. Morocco’s advancement in green hydrogen development and solar rooftop initiatives represents a significant step toward renewable energy sovereignty. Egypt’s deepening energy relations with Chinese and Norwegian partners underscores a strategic pivot toward South-South cooperation that challenges decades of Western energy dominance in the region.

Meanwhile, Algeria’s consideration of severing ties with the UAE amid rising tensions over regional alignments reveals the complex diplomatic maneuvering occurring across North Africa. The United States’ reported pressure on Algeria regarding Western Sahara demonstrates the continuing neo-colonial interference that Global South nations must navigate. These developments occur against a backdrop of economic transformations, with Morocco implementing labor code reforms and Standard Chartered forecasting improved economic growth based on infrastructure investment and industrial policy.

Humanitarian and Security Challenges

The region continues to face significant humanitarian and security challenges that reflect the legacy of colonial borders and external interference. A drone strike in Sudan’s El Obeid killed at least ten people, including children, highlighting the devastating human cost of conflicts that often have roots in resource competition and external geopolitical games. Burkina Faso’s claims of uncovering an assassination plot against junta leader Ibrahim Traoré reveal the ongoing instability in the Sahel region, where foreign intervention has historically exacerbated rather than resolved conflicts.

Washington’s suspension of assistance to the Somali government following allegations of aid diversion represents another example of conditional assistance that often undermines rather than supports local sovereignty. The release of humanitarian workers in Tunisia after suspended sentences for facilitating migrant “illegal entry and residence” points to the cruel paradox of migration management where human compassion becomes criminalized under systems designed to protect borders rather than people.

The Imperative of Sovereign Development

North Africa’s pursuit of energy independence and economic transformation represents nothing less than a revolutionary assertion of sovereignty against decades of neo-colonial domination. The West’s consistent failure to recognize the right of Global South nations to determine their own development path continues to manifest through diplomatic pressure, conditional aid, and economic coercion. Morocco’s green hydrogen projects and Egypt’s energy partnerships with China demonstrate that alternatives to Western-dominated development models not only exist but thrive when given the opportunity.

The Western obsession with maintaining influence in North Africa through transactional relationships and security cooperation reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of the region’s aspirations. Young people across Africa have turned against aging liberation parties not because they reject liberation ideals, but because these parties have often become compromised by Western-friendly policies that prioritize foreign investment over domestic welfare. The firebrand opposition leader in Mozambique correctly identifies this generational shift toward authentic self-determination rather than neocolonial compromise.

The Hypocrisy of Selective Application of International Law

The United States urging Algeria to reassess its position on Western Sahara exemplifies the selective application of international principles that has characterized Western foreign policy for decades. Where is this concern for self-determination when it comes to Palestinian rights? Where is this commitment to international law when Western corporations exploit African resources without fair compensation? This hypocrisy undermines the very concept of an international rules-based order and reveals it as a tool of power rather than principle.

Algeria’s potential break with the UAE over regional alignment disputes represents a courageous assertion of diplomatic independence in a world where smaller nations are constantly pressured to choose sides in great power competitions. This refusal to be drawn into camps not of their own making demonstrates the maturity and sovereignty that Western nations often claim to encourage while actively undermining through their actions.

Energy Sovereignty as Decolonization

Morocco’s acceleration of green hydrogen projects, despite regulatory and infrastructure hurdles, embodies the spirit of innovation and self-reliance that characterizes the new Global South. Similarly, Egypt’s signing of major energy deals with Chinese partners represents a strategic diversification that reduces dependence on Western financial institutions and their often-predatory conditionalities.

The MENA region’s positioning as a potential global leader in smartphone growth and digital services, driven by high youth populations and rapid AI uptake, offers an opportunity to leapfrog outdated Western technological pathways and establish new paradigms of digital sovereignty. This technological advancement, coupled with energy independence, could create a model of development that other Global South nations might emulate.

The Human Cost of Geopolitical Games

Behind the geopolitical maneuvering and economic transformations lie human stories often ignored in Western analysis. The hundreds of Egyptian detainees expected to be released from Libyan prisons following diplomatic coordination represent families torn apart by migration policies that criminalize movement rather than addressing its root causes. The children killed in Sudan’s drone strike represent futures extinguished by conflicts fueled by external arms sales and resource competition.

North Africa Program Director Hafed Al-Ghwell’s critique of how the 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy reduces Africa to a transactional resource frontier speaks to this dehumanizing approach to international relations. When nations and continents become mere resources to be managed rather than partners to be respected, we perpetuate the colonial mindset that has caused so much suffering across the Global South.

Toward a Multipolar Future

The developments across North Africa signal a broader shift toward a multipolar world where nations exercise genuine sovereignty in choosing their development partners and models. China’s involvement in energy projects, Turkey’s trade relationships with Libya, and the growing cooperation between Sahel nations all represent the diversification of international relations that Western powers have long monopolized.

This multipolarity offers the possibility of a more equitable global system where nations can negotiate terms rather than accept conditions. However, it also requires vigilance against simply replacing Western dominance with new forms of dependence. The challenge for North African nations is to leverage these new partnerships while maintaining their sovereign interests and avoiding debt traps or resource exploitation.

Conclusion: The Right to Self-Determination

North Africa’s complex tapestry of energy development, political reform, security challenges, and diplomatic maneuvering ultimately tells a story of assertion against domination. From Morocco’s renewable energy leadership to Algeria’s diplomatic independence, from Egypt’s economic transformation to the Sahel’s security cooperation, the region is writing a new chapter in its history—one where external powers must engage as partners rather than patrons.

The tragic human costs of ongoing conflicts remind us that peace and development must remain the ultimate goals. As the Global South continues to assert its right to self-determination, the international community must move beyond hypocritical applications of international law and respect the sovereign choices of nations that have long suffered under colonial and neo-colonial domination. North Africa’s path forward, though challenging, offers hope for a future where development is defined by local needs rather than foreign interests.