The troubling scenes unfolding in South Africa, where fellow Africans are being harassed, beaten, threatened, and told to “go back home”, are unsettling to every conscience across this continent.

As the June 30 ultimatum by vigilante groups such as "March and March" approaches, the urgency and ugliness of the situation demand a simple but profound question: if Africans must go, then where should they go?

Though it may sound rhetorical, the question is rooted in reality, history and the future we claim to seek as Africans.

In many ways, Africa is confronting itself through the despicable scenes unfolding in South Africa. The borders that now define who belongs and who does not were never organically ours. They were imposed by colonial powers and drawn to serve their administrative and extractive interests.

Yet today, we invoke those same artificial lines with renewed vigour, using them to justify exclusion and division against our own people.

In doing so, we risk entrenching the fragmented identity imposed on us to undermine our collective potential. Needless to say, before these borders existed, Africans moved, traded and lived across vast spaces defined more by culture and coexistence than by rigid territorial barriers.

That history must count for something, including for young South Africans who have grown up knowing only the borders of their country and may not fully appreciate the continental sacrifices that contributed to freeing South Africa from the shackles of apartheid.

Migration is economically driven

The demand for Africans to leave South Africa is an attempt to elevate nationality above a shared continental identity. More importantly, it ignores the fact that migration within Africa, just as elsewhere in the world, is not an anomaly but a natural response to uneven development.

People move in search of opportunity, security and dignity, and these conditions remain unevenly distributed across our continent.

In the case of migration into South Africa, many Africans are drawn by economic opportunities. They often take up jobs, establish businesses and occupy spaces that some locals are either unable or unwilling to fill. These opportunities, however modest, provide a chance for migrants to improve their livelihoods and support their families.

This is not unique to South Africa. In Ghana, Nigeria and many other African countries, people relocate temporarily or permanently to study, work or establish businesses in pursuit of better opportunities.

Telling such people to "go back home" without addressing the structural imbalances that drive migration is not a policy. It is merely an attempt to deflect responsibility and kick the can down the road.

Foreigners are not the problem

There is no denying that unemployment and inequality in South Africa, particularly among the youth, are serious and urgent challenges.

However, to frame fellow Africans as the cause of these problems is both inaccurate and dangerous. It risks misdiagnosing the issue while fuelling social tensions that benefit no one and run contrary to the aspirations of a united Africa.

The frustrations of young South Africans are legitimate, but directing those frustrations towards vulnerable migrants only deepens the crisis rather than resolving it.

More importantly, the push to expel African migrants represents a step backwards at a time when Africa must move forward together.

The continent finds itself at a pivotal geopolitical moment. The world is competing for access to Africa's vast reserves of critical minerals and natural resources.

Whether it is gold from Ghana, cobalt and copper from the Democratic Republic of Congo, lithium from Zimbabwe or bauxite from Guinea, Africa sits at the centre of global supply chains. With the rapid growth of electric vehicle production and advanced defence technologies, Africa remains a key source of the minerals required to power the global economy.

This moment presents an opportunity not only for resource extraction but also for industrialisation, value addition and shared prosperity.

Yet such an opportunity cannot be fully realised in isolation. It cannot be realised on a continent where young people, who should be urging leaders to harmonise policies and build a prosperous Africa, instead resort to vigilantism and hostility against fellow Africans.

Success requires coordination, integration and unity. African economies must increasingly connect through trade, business linkages and harmonised policies.

Initiatives such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) were designed precisely to break down internal barriers and promote intra-African commerce. But that vision becomes hollow if Africans are simultaneously made to feel unwelcome in African markets.

Weakening our bargaining power

If we fragment ourselves along national lines, we weaken our bargaining power globally. We compete against one another instead of collaborating.

In doing so, we make it easier for external actors to dictate terms, much as the partitioning of Africa sought to achieve. A divided Africa cannot maximise its resource wealth. A united Africa can. That is precisely why the African Union was established.

As a businessman, I also recognise the practical economic dimension that must not be ignored. African migrants in South Africa are not merely job seekers. They are entrepreneurs, traders and service providers.

In many communities, they sustain small businesses, facilitate trade networks and contribute to local economies.

Their abrupt removal, as is currently being advocated in some quarters, will not automatically translate into employment for South Africans, as has been widely discussed, including by one of the country's leading politicians, Julius Malema.

On the contrary, it may lead to the closure of informal enterprises, disruptions in supply chains and reduced economic activity in already struggling communities.

Then comes the broader question of South Africa's position on the continent as this situation gathers momentum.

For decades, South Africa has been viewed as a gateway economy, attracting investment, tourism and talent from across Africa and beyond. That reputation is built not only on economic strength but also on openness and inclusivity.

Sustained hostility towards fellow Africans risks eroding that standing and weakening South Africa's appeal as a continental hub. Beyond the reputational damage are the potential economic consequences, including reduced investment, fewer opportunities and possible implications for jobs and social support systems.

A chance to remedy the situation

At this critical juncture, leadership matters.

Watching African governments coordinate repatriation efforts for citizens fleeing hostility is deeply troubling. It undermines the vision and sacrifices of African leaders such as Dr Kwame Nkrumah and Nelson Mandela, who understood and resisted the colonial strategy of divide and rule.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances, South Africa still has an opportunity to remedy the situation.

As the June 30 deadline approaches, it is essential that the government engages constructively with the youth, addresses legitimate grievances through lawful channels and firmly rejects any descent into mob action or unlawful expulsions.

The rule of law must prevail, but so too must the principles of dignity, fairness and African solidarity.

Africa cannot afford a spectacle of mass deportations or widespread unrest. Such scenes would reverberate far beyond South Africa's borders, deepening divisions and undermining confidence in the continent at a time when unity is most needed.

Ultimately, the question before us is not merely about migration. It is about identity and direction.

Do we see ourselves primarily as citizens of separate, competing states, or as participants in a broader African project that transcends colonial-era boundaries in pursuit of shared progress?

The idea that expelling fellow Africans will resolve our economic challenges is misguided. It closes doors at a time when we should be opening them.

If Africa is to thrive in a rapidly changing global order, it must do so as a cohesive force, not as a collection of inward-looking enclaves inherited from outsiders.

So again, we must ask: if Africans must go, where should they go?

Surely not away from one another.

Not as Ghanaians expelled from Nigeria, Nigerians driven from South Africa, or Africans made to feel like lesser citizens in African countries.

Instead, we must forge ahead towards deeper integration, stronger cooperation and a renewed commitment to the idea that, despite our diversity, we are one people with a shared destiny.

Alhaji Seidu Agongo is a Ghanaian businessman and philanthropist.