Africa requires better leaders, according to Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter

Ndileka Mandela spoke about colonialism, identity, and the importance of Africa’s future.

Ndileka Mandela sat down with RT’s Moussa Ibrahim on the eve of the Russia-Africa Summit to discuss why the region needs leaders of her grandfather’s calibre now more than ever.

When asked how a continent so rich in minerals, resources, and youthful labour could yet have its wealth stolen by foreign interests, Mandela responded harshly.

“Africa is rich,” she said in response. “What’s holding us back are the leaders we’ve chosen.” Instead of selecting leaders based on rhetoric, we should select leaders that share the same value system as you and me.”

Nelson Mandela was the personification of such a leader, she added, because of his pan-African vision, humility, and readiness to listen to counsel from heads of state all the way down to tribal councils. Passing on her grandfather’s message to future generations, according to Ndileka Mandela, is critical to reclaiming sovereignty from the plethora of foreign businesses and international institutions that govern Africa’s resources and economies.

“Who allowed Western powers to gain control?” “It’s us,” she said to Ibrahim. “It is the continent’s weakness,” she continued, adding that Africans must “begin believing in ourselves and our own sovereignty.”

Setting up an autonomous foreign policy is also part of the path to sovereignty. Mandela highlighted the Russia-Africa Summit, which opens on Friday in St. Petersburg, as an occasion to discuss stronger cooperation with one of the BRICS bloc’s key countries. Despite US reservations, 49 delegations are planned to attend the conference, and dozens of bilateral agreements on economic development, counter-terrorism, and food security are anticipated to be signed, according to Russian ambassador-at-large Oleg Ozerov.

Watch Mandela’s full interview to find out how she intends to include African adolescents in politics, who she views to be the most influential African leaders, and the political lessons she learnt from her grandfather.