The recurrent emergence of charismatic leadership in Africa reveals not only the structural crisis of post-colonial states but also the persistence of a political grammar rooted in the myth of the saviour. The recent rise of figures such as Ibrahim Traoré in Burkina Faso rekindles this imaginary. Yet the essential issue is not about him, but about what his figure symbolises: the persistent expectation that African history will find redemption through exceptional individuals.
This myth, though mobilising, carries profound ambiguities. It expresses the refusal to accept the established order and the quest for genuine sovereignty, while at the same time crystallising a chronic institutional fragility in which hope is placed in providential men rather than in collective structures. The continent’s history abounds with examples: Nkrumah, Senghor, Nyerere, Sankara — leaders who, in different ways, projected pan-Africanist visions of political unity, a common currency and even a “United States of Africa”. The ideal, however, collapsed in the face of internal resistance, the fragmentation inherited from colonialism and external pressures unwilling to accept an autonomous Africa.
In this context, what can be expected from the new incarnations of this myth? The rise of Traoré, and other rebel leaders in the Sahel, points to the exhaustion of the neo-colonial dependency model. The sovereigntist discourse, the rejection of Western powers and the search for new strategic alliances signal an attempt at continental reconfiguration. But does this herald an inclusive project capable of overcoming fragmentation, or is it just another cycle of personalism that will inevitably repeat the frustrations of the past?
International relations offer disturbing clues: Africa remains an object of contention between global powers, oscillating between multiple dependencies. In this context, the saviour myth serves a dual function: symbolic resistance and structural entrapment. It allows for immediate mobilisation against the existing order, but rarely transforms into lasting institutions. African unity remains the horizon, while concrete politics fragments into vulnerable sovereignties.
Ultimately, the true challenge is not to find new saviours but to transform the messianic impulse into institutional architecture capable of sustaining continental integration. Otherwise, Africa will continue to celebrate its redeemers only to bury them soon after, while the promise of collective emancipation remains indefinitely deferred.