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Julius Malema’s warning to African leaders to shun taking unchecked foreign loans, especially those emanating from World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is quite forthright and must be heeded. So far, loans taken by African leaders have impoverished the continent and its people rather than enhancing its socio-economic development. Despite the enormous human and material resources in Africa, the continent remains the least developed. Instead of exporting manufactured goods, Africa has remained the major exporter of raw materials to Europe, America and other continents.
We have enough arable land to feed the people of the continent, yet we are dependent on food imports. We have crude oil, yet we import refined petroleum products. Our leaders are obsessed with foreign loans from Bretton Woods’ institutions not minding mortgaging the future of generations of Africans yet unborn. Malema’s forthrightness on this score resonates with me in so many ways and quickly reminds me of an Igbo proverb which says that a man who buries his mother with contributions from friends; his mother will keep dying from time to time.
The import or significance of this proverb is that if you don’t want your mother to die every time, don’t bury her with loans from friends. You should bury her with what you have. You should cut your coat according to your cloth. There is no shame in being oneself. There is no need to pretend what you are not. Remain as you are. We shall return to this cautionary tale about borrowing to bury the dead. There is a link between what Malema said and the quoted Igbo proverb.
The respected South Africa’s opposition leader who delivered the keynote address at the 2025 at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Enugu with the theme ‘Stand out, stand tall’ urged African leaders to break free from colonial economic dependency and build a self-sufficient future. The President of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) of South Africa told African leaders that “the debt trap of Africa to our foreign colonizers must be stopped and that begins by regulating these loans that our leaders commit future generations to, because they will not be there when the colonists come to collect them.” Malema is calling for African unity in areas of economy and politics.
The growth of Africa lies in the economic unity of African countries. We must intentionally promote trade and unity among African countries as well as inter-marriages. There must be economic and political cooperation among African countries for the continent to be great. It is commendable that Malema used the occasion to acknowledge Nigeria’s sacrifice to South Africa’s fight for independence. He wants Africans to see themselves as one and condemned xenophobia that tends to undermine our cultural ties and economic cooperation. Africa should wake up from its deep slumber and be futuristic in its economic vision and goals. Africa need not be the epicenter of poverty, war, terrorism and corruption.
We should not be home to mass hunger, starvation and bearing the highest global disease burden. We are home to many sit-tight leaders, leaders who are adept in tenure extension. We have the worst elections in the world. Our political development is encumbered by selfishness, moral decay and absence of patriotism. We are still clannish, nepotistic and self-centered. Bad leadership is still the bane of the continent. Our leaders lack personal examples. They tacitly encourage education and medical tourism. Africa should not be the dumping ground for foreign goods, used vehicles, counterfeit and unwholesome drugs and food products. We don’t need fake electrical products and poor quality solar panels. We have depended so much on imported food items for too long, it is time we produce what we eat and eat what we produce.
We can produce enough rice for Africa and for export. We can do the same with any other food item we still import. I urge African leaders to listen to Malema and do away with appetite for foreign loans. Africa will not develop with loans from World Bank and IMF or loans from China and other countries. The time to look inwards is now. We have indeed looked so much outside for our economic salvation. Let’s now begin to look homeward for our future lies within Africa. We can copy and emulate what is good outside and bring it home and domesticate it. We must run away from loans that serve as death traps. We must reject them with our full strength. They are evil and don’t men well for us.
Let’s revolutionize our education system and modernize our agriculture. We must invest so much in STEM education. We have not done enough in that area. We need world-class universities to be able to produce the much needed scientists that will propel our technological development. Proper funding for our education and health sectors is very imperative to accelerate our scientific development. We have delayed so much to catch up with the world in science and technology. The world is not waiting for Africa. They are marching ahead. That is the message of Malema.
Foreigners will not develop Africa for us. Europe did not develop Africa considering our pact with slave trade and colonialism. The Chinese will not develop Africa for us. The new loan dependence is slavish and unacceptable. Our leaders must stop mortgaging the future of our children now migrating to Europe and America in droves to escape the pains and suffering at home.
Nigeria and other top African countries should take the lead to fast-track development in Africa. Africa is in need of new crop of leaders, leaders with messianic and charismatic disposition, leaders who can lead the people to the Promised Land. We have waited for so long in the wilderness and waited in vain for a savior. The long chain of Africa’s loan dependency must be broken so that the people will be free once and for all.
We must stop endless servicing of foreign debts that have become unsustainable. Some of them are even questionable. Borrowing more loans to service old loans is like that man who borrows money from friends to bury his mother. The cycle of loan repayment and servicing must never be interminable. African leaders should wake up now and do the right thing.
