South Africa’s Malema speaks at NBA conference, urges Africa to unite under 1 leader, 1 currency

Julius Malema, president of South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has renewed his call for sweeping political and economic integration across Africa, advocating for a single presidency, a unified currency, and the removal of colonial-era borders.

Speaking on Sunday at the Nigerian Bar Association’s Annual General Conference in Enugu, Malema pressed African leaders to “discard colonial boundaries” and embrace a continent that operates as one political and economic bloc.

“We demand one Africa, we demand a borderless Africa, we demand an Africa with one president, one currency, one military command, with one parliament,” he told an audience of thousands of lawyers and dignitaries.

Malema argued that a shared African currency would have greater strength on the global market. “We know the currency of Africa will be much stronger against the American currency. We don’t care what Donald Trump or any other leader thinks of us. Africans must refuse to be subjects of others. We must stand together as the world changes and show the world that Africa is one and equal to all nations,” he said.

Africa currently comprises 54 sovereign states, but Malema urged leaders to consolidate political authority under a continental government. He also insisted that Africans should travel freely without visas. “Africans should not need visas to visit one another,” he declared.

Rejecting stereotypes of Africa as a “dark continent,” the 44-year-old politician highlighted the continent’s vast mineral wealth and economic potential.

“We are a shining nation. We must make sure that no single corner of Africa witnesses Africans killing each other. We must unite against the forces that seek to exploit us.

“The land belongs to Africans, and the minerals of Africa must be returned to Africans. We have the capacity to create industries and process our minerals here. We must never allow imperialist forces to divide us in order to take our wealth,” he said.

Malema named Nigeria and South Africa as key drivers of Africa’s industrialisation, urging both nations to lead the way in strengthening the African Continental Free Trade Area. He praised Nigeria’s historic support for South Africa during the anti-apartheid struggle and cautioned African governments against taking unregulated loans from the World Bank and other lenders.

Malema also condemned xenophobic violence against foreign nationals in South Africa, stressing that “Nigerians, Congolese, and Zimbabweans living in South Africa are not the cause of the country’s problems.”

“Xenophobia is a sickness borne of poverty, inequality, and government failure,” he said. “Africans must love themselves, not kill one another. Black people are not loved in Africa, and not loved abroad either, but we must learn to treat ourselves better.”

According to Malema, Africa’s future rests firmly in African hands. “Our salvation lies here, in Lagos and Johannesburg, in Abuja and Pretoria, in the hands of Africans who refuse to be divided,” he asserted.