Beyond borders: Afrophobia and Africa’s unfulfilled promise

In April 2026, xenophobic attacks in South Africa left two Nigerian nationals dead, 130 citizens repatriated, and six African governments issuing travel warnings. Ghana evacuated 300 citizens and petitioned the African Union. Author Thebe Ikalafeng recounts a 2015 incident at a Ghanaian border where an officer reproached him for South African attacks. He labels the phenomenon Afrophobia rather than xenophobia, citing historical precedents such as Ghana's expulsion of Nigerians in 1969 and Nigeria's expulsion of Ghanaians in 1983.