On September 20, 2023, the Global Pan African Movement, North America Delegation (GPAM) held an internal education session on the successive coups that have happened in Gabon, Niger, Guinea, and Burkina Faso over the last two years. The GPAM stands against increased militarism and militarization, including the militarization of political systems in Africa. We are also opposed to political systems burdened by African agents of imperialism. This necessitates we (re)evaluate political leaders and systems based on their ability and will to serve and incorporate the people of Africa. In this sense, we make distinctions between reactionary coups, and those that have emerged in response or in relation to popular demands.  

1. We support power to the working people and the building of institutions that are  controlled by the working people for and in their interests.
2. We stand against all forms of imperial militarism and recognize that not all coup d’etats are the same – some are revolutionary while others are reactionary. The former are people-centric, while the latter service transnational capital and proliferate the exploitation of the people and their resources. We continue to monitor the developments and condemn all regimes that oppress and repress the masses.
3. We condemn the use of crises to further extend imperial tentacles and stand against all forms of colonialism.
   • After the 1990s, and especially after 9/11, the U.S. has used terrorism and anti-terrorist efforts as a justification to increase its militarization of many parts of the world including the African continent. Aside from Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, the US has numerous military outposts, such as cooperative security locations (CSLs) and forward operating locations (FOLs), across and beyond West Africa. 
   • Since the destruction of Libya and the reproduction of crises in the Sahel, France and other imperialist entities have grown in presence under the pretext of fighting terrorism. While their first and foremost interest is to create weakened states that are dependent on foreign security (i.e., security dependency). We condemn this form of militarized accumulation that is anti-people. 
   • All countries in which the coups happened are large exporters of gold. The fact that the United Arab Emirates stands as the top (or one of the top) importer of gold from these countries speaks to the increasingly exploitative-extractive role of the UAE in Africa. We remain aware and condemn that the environment of non-reciprocative trade relations created by France is used by countries and corporations to further exploit African peoples.
   • France should end its colonization over many peoples including those in African Islands such as Reunion and Mayotte. 
4. We condemn the use of sanctions by the EU, US, and Nigeria which cause suffering on working people. No sanctions on Niger!
   • We must recognize how sanctions as a tool have been selectively targeted with complete bias and partiality. Whereas Niger is facing inhumane collective punishment in the form of sanctions that prohibits even the importation of food and medicine, ECOWAS and imperialist countries have neglected the happenings in Gabon. This indicates that sanctions are used to punish regimes based on their relationship to transnational exploitation. 
   • The complicity of Nigerian leaders in such collective punishment by cutting off electricity supply to Niger must equally be condemned.  
5. Beyond the end of France’s military presence, we join calls for the dismantling of the economic architecture under which France subjugates African countries. We acknowledge the CFA France as the basis on which this architecture rests.
6. We support the current security pact between Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger that allows for mutual aid in the event of any armed rebellion or external aggression.
   • We call for more economic, infrastructural, and institutional integration among the three countries and other parts of Africa
7. We support the fostering of alternative economic links based on Pan-African solidarity.
   • It has become clear that the hegemony of the US dollar has been weaponized further by imposing sanctions on any government that is unwilling to accept and follow US dictats. This brings a necessity for forging a new economic reality that circumvents US-led unipolar world-order. The lessons we are learning from such revolutionary coups is that there is a need for a Pan-African unity and solidarity that is based on relationship of trust, delinking from the imperialist powers, and self-reliance, in economic, political, and social issues. A crucial step to be supported is the development of a Pan-African currency that allows African nations to cooperate beyond the influences of the US dollar, ultimately weakening the US’ malign influences on the African continent. 
   • On the question of which foreign power African countries should build alliances with – including the ongoing debate about whether the countries discussed thus far should make alliances with Russia – we stand firm that African countries should be free to make strategic alliances that not only account for historical and material relations, but first and foremost benefit the people of Africa. Strategic alliances should be built alongside continental integration that strengthens our bargaining power and leverage. The question of trade and alliance must be weighed based on how trade and alliance are being conducted: based on non-predatory, mutually beneficial, and non-hierarchical (equal) relations.