Africa’s Silent Power Shift: Why Sub-States Like the Western Cape Matter

Africa is no longer a passive geopolitical arena — it is an active battleground for global influence.

While the world’s attention is fixed on Ukraine, Gaza and Taiwan, Russia, China, the US and Europe are all expanding their strategic positions on the African continent through infrastructure, security partnerships, diplomacy and economic leverage.

In this interview with RSG, Dr Joan Swart unpacks:

how Africa fits into the 21st-century global power contest,
why China and Russia have made rapid inroads,
how Western strategies differ from Eastern ones,
and why sub-state regions such as Somaliland, Western Sahara and the Western Cape are becoming increasingly strategically relevant.

These regions — often more stable, more predictable and better governed than their national governments — are emerging as “proto-states” that global actors cannot ignore.

They represent the growing global trend where functional regional entities build their own international relationships, economic networks and security partnerships.

The Western Cape is a key example in South Africa:

Its better governance, stronger institutions and clearer political vision make it an attractive regional actor in international cooperation. As geopolitical competition intensifies, regions like the Western Cape can leverage their stability to strengthen self-determination, enhance economic positioning and secure more beneficial alliances — even when national governments pursue very different foreign policy directions.

This discussion highlights why regional empowerment is becoming one of the most significant geopolitical patterns of the 21st century, especially across Africa.