Some « metaphors of the future », an expression taken from Felwine Sarr’s essay Afrotopia, emerge from Léonora Miano’s story of anticipation, Red Empress, and highlight an African continent with a pacified future, enjoying a stable and flourishing economy. However, this rather positive vision of the African future gives rise to some controversy. Through a compa rison between Felwine Sarr’s essay and Léonora Miano’s novel, this article examines how Red Empress oscillates between utopia and its opposite, dys topia. It also emphasizes the fruitful reflections (the famous « metaphors of the future ») that spring from projections into alternative worlds and attempt to show a way beyond the traditional dichotomy between utopia and dystopia.