The detained anti-colonial activist grabbing attention in West Africa: Who is Kemi Seba?

The controversial anti-colonial pan-African activist Kemi Seba is currently in detention in South Africa, days after his arrest while allegedly attempting to flee to Europe via Zimbabwe.

The 45-year-old is currently wanted in Benin for "inciting rebellion" after allegedly supporting the country's foiled coup in December 2025.

Known for his staunch opposition to French influence in Africa, backing of West African military leaders and pro-Russian propaganda, Seba has had multiple skirmishes with the law in several different countries.

Born in the French city of Strasbourg to Beninese parents in 1981, Seba - whose real name is Stellio Gilles Robert Capo Chichi - has made a name for himself as a radical activist, who has been arrested many times, including for inciting racial hatred and antisemitism.

In his youth, he travelled to the US, where he was influenced by the black nationalist movement, the Nation of Islam (NOI). He listened to sermons from the organisation, where Malcolm X was once a prominent figure.

On his return to France at 18, he became an ambassador for NOI.

Shortly afterwards, a trip to Egypt led him to become a follower of kemetism, a belief system based on ancient Egyptian theology.

Inspired by his travels, in 2004, he founded Tribu Ka, a radical black segregationist movement through which he platformed antisemitic sentiments.

Two years later, it was banned by the French government and dissolved, and he was sentenced to one month in prison.

On 28 May, 2007, Seba and some of his followers marched through a predominantly Jewish area of Paris to "defend the interests of Black people", French daily newspaper Le Figaro reported at the time.

The following year, French courts sentenced him again, this time to six months in prison - four of which were suspended - for relaunching his Tribu Ka movement under a new name, Generation Kemi Seba, the paper added.

Faced with mounting pressure both from civil society activists and law enforcement, he left France for Senegal after his release.

According to French media, he also joined a new group, the Movement of the Damned by Imperialism (MDI), and served as its president when he resigned in 2010. The group described itself as anti-imperialist and focused heavily on online activism.

Paul Melly, a researcher for the Chatham House Africa Programme, said Seba has attracted significant attention in recent years with his "very critical" remarks on France and its role in Africa.

"His agenda is very much now focused on this anti-French, what he would call 'anti-colonial pitch', and the resentment of the continued French influence in West Africa," Melly told the BBC, in contrast to his early career 20 years ago, when there were a lot of accusations of antisemitism.

Humanitarian crisis

In December 2015, Seba launched the NGO Pan-Africanist Emergency, which he still leads.

The group describes itself as a "black rights organisation with a geopolitical and humanitarian focus, specialising in issues related to sovereignty, neocolonialism, and the promotion of social justice".

As someone who opposes French influence in Africa, he is also critical of African nations that retain close ties with the former colonial power, such as those that continue to use the CFA franc as legal tender.

One of Pan-Africanist Emergency's goals is to end the use of the currency.

France created the CFA franc in the late 1940s to serve as currency in its then-African empire, and it remains one of the most prominent signs of continued French influence over its former colonies.

Fourteen African nations, including Senegal, Benin and the Ivory Coast, still use the currency, which is pegged to the euro and backed by the French treasury.

Seba is among many activists calling for the CFA to be abandoned, saying it is a way for France to retain economic control.

In August 2017, he burned a 5 000 CFA franc note (about £6.60; $8.90) during a protest in Senegal to denounce "Francafrique," a term used to describe France's post-colonial influence in Africa.

He was arrested but acquitted days later on a technicality, according to reports.

In an interview with the Ivory Coast-based news website Yeclo in 2019, he named seven reasons for "his fight" against the CFA, including the Bank of France's "right of veto in your banks".

"With regard to economic orientations," he explained, "the adage clearly states that whoever controls you economically will control you politically."

Criticism of the CFA franc on economic grounds is growing, particularly among "younger urban West Africans", according to Melly. "Kemi Seba is pretty popular, especially in the social media age with lots of young followers in West Africa."

A month after the incident, the self-styled "Afrocentrist" was deported from Senegal to France for posing a "serious threat to public order", French newspaper Le Monde reported, citing the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security in Dakar.

He has also faced trouble with the authorities in other Francophone nations.

"He's perceived by West African governments - that have good, close relations with France - as a hostile figure," Melly explained.