In the last few weeks, Africa witnessed two major events that could influence the continent’s economic landscape in the coming decades. First was the visit by British Prime Minister Theresa May and her pledge of $5.1 billion in investments continent-wide, as the UK prepares for life after Brexit. Next followed the gesture of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who offered $60 billion in loans and aid to African leaders at the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing. These two offers ironically sum up the status of the continent: Africa is the new economic frontier that needs a tremendous amount of help – and the proper way to help is seldom understood by the West. Unfortunately, what development efforts should promise, and how they should be implemented, are questions both African leaders and their partners have gotten wrong for years. But here are a few things the world must understand about helping Africa.

1. Africa is not transparent enough for loans

Among the many questions economists find hard to answer are: What total amount of loans does the continent need? And do beneficiary countries have the structural requirements to successfully pay off debts without experiencing financial problems?

The answer is simple...

Western and central Africa, known as the Sahel region, has been the home to a string of human rights abuses and attempted genocide within living memory. It is presently the home to numerous jihadist insurgencies. Yet the European Union is considering sending arms to the region, rather than developing its latent resources so that the people of my continent can flourish.

The EU recently proposed the €10.5-billion ($12.3 U.S.) European Peace Facility (EPF) for partners in crisis zones, including Africa’s Sahel region. The EPF – which is intended to combat insecurity in nations including Somalia, Mali, and the Central African Republic – would supply lethal weaponry to the area.

Despite the EPF’s good intentions, it is the last thing the Sahel or any region of sub-Saharan Africa needs. Rather than promoting peace, providing weapons to governments in the region could worsen human rights abuse, fuel arms proliferation, and escalate active conflicts in the nations involved.

Already, governments in the Sahel region are among the world’s most brutal, and it is reckless for the EU to consider arming oppressive regimes, regardless of the putative motivation. Moreover, there is overwhelming evidence that links the Sahel’s human rights violations to very government agencies...

The European Union has pledged to assist the new administration in Zimbabwe by reintegrating into the global economy and mending the nation’s strained ties with the international community. It also promised to work with the country in its efforts towards fiscal solvency. This timely support is vital for Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose economic recovery plan has not a moment to waste.

The EU’s promises reiterate the good news that the world is ready to take Zimbabwe seriously again. However, the centrality of the EU to this process makes it a decisive player in the success of Zimbabwe. As such, it needs to consider the consequences of every policy and agreement it enters with the nation. Here are the crucial issues it should comprehensively evaluate in dealing with Zimbabwe.

Press the need for non-economic reforms

The foremost consideration for the EU now should be how it can effectively use its status to influence positive social and legal changes in Zimbabwe. For instance, one of former president Robert Mugabe’s fatal moves was the appalling “fast-track” land reform enacted in 2001. The forceful acquisition of farmland from more than 4,500 white Zimbabweans and foreigners was followed by the redistribution...

In early 2018, all 54 member-states of the African Union (AU) will sign an agreement for a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) to make Africa the world’s largest common market. The CFTA could increase trade within the region by an unprecedented 50 percent and create about $35 billion in benefits.

This is necessary, as intra-African trade only constitutes 18 percent of the continent’s total trade – an abysmal rating compared to the European Union’s (EU) 70 percent. But a well-implemented free trade treaty could increase trade and benefit the ever-growing population of the continent with more material resources. It would also likely give Africa an advantage in negotiating more equitable agreements with the EU.

Trade relations with Europe

The EU is modern Africa’s oldest trade partner and, despite the decline in their economic relations in the last 14 years, the CFTA could still help Africa get the best out of this historically one-sided partnership.

Since the formalization of trade agreements between Europe and Africa in the mid-1900s, the EU has leveraged the weakness of intra-African trade to its benefit. Yet to this day, the AU is guilty of not building an environment allowing strong trade relations among African countries and Regional Economic Communities (RECs), which is necessary...