Nigeria and South Africa Move for Continental Leadership
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I’m rather certain that South Africa’s President, Cyril Matamela Ramaphosa, is not now on a tour of West African traditional dances.
He’s not in West Africa to see who makes the best jollof rice….
As a strategic thinker, he sees certain potential in the issues that Nigeria faces. After all, pursuing, protecting, and promoting a serious country’s national interest is not a sentimental pastime.
He has ended his visit to Nigeria, the “Giant of Africa,” the first of a four-nation West Africa visit, amid COVID-19 ‘Omicron’ fears.
On the 2nd and 3rd of December, Ramaphosa will speak at the Africa Investment Forum’s opening session in Côte d’Ivoire. From December 4 to 5, he will be in Ghana, and then from December 6 to 7, he will be in Senegal.
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Ramaphosa has been President of South Africa since February 15, 2018. He rose to prominence as a youthful and dynamic former trade union leader around the time Nelson Mandela was liberated from a remote prison on South Africa’s Robben Island.
Without a question, Ramaphosa has been in the forefront of national liberation and economic empowerment politics for South Africa’s indigenous African populations and so-called “colored” peoples.
It’s worth noting that he served as the principal negotiator for Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) during the country’s transition from apartheid to multi-ethnic democracy. He was one of the architects of the first election in April 1994, which resulted in Mandela’s election as South Africa’s first post-apartheid president.
In addition, his influence rose in the 1990s as the leader and strategist of the National Union of Mine Workers, South Africa’s most powerful trade union at the time (NUM).
Mandela privately expressed his belief that Cyril would be a worthy and likely future president to his confidantes.
Ramaphosa appears to have known his time would come, and he opted to act mostly in the financial and economic spheres.
Regardless, he kept a close eye on the African National Congress (ANCactions )’s and leadership dynamics, as shown in my book MLK, Mandela, and Achebe: Power Leadership & Identity, published in 2022. MLKMandelaAchebe.com
He was elected President of one of Africa’s oldest political organizations and liberation movements on December 18, 2017. As they say, the rest is history.
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Comrade Ramaphosa became a highly successful and wealthy business executive a few years later, thanks to a combination of lucrative investments, expanded prospects for Blacks, and clever relationships. He has also been on the board of MTN, a corporation that provides information, telecommunications, and financial services. Ramaphosa is valued at least R7 billion South African Rand (US $500 million) according to USAfrica and USAfricaonline.com News Index 2021.
Remember that on July 9, 2021, I wrote a statement titled “Zuma’s troubles and wasting of Mandela’s legacy” in my weekly column on this platform. It was about what happened on July 7, 2021, when South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma — a 79-year-old grandfather and (ex) freedom warrior — surrendered to authorities at a correctional services facility (prison).
The ANC’s mistakes have been disastrous, forcing it to lose elections and seats that millions of people believed were’safe seats’ for the party. No, not any longer!
My point remains that it is unfortunate but true that some of the notorious financial criminals who are making life difficult for South Africa’s poor people rose to power under the ANC’s banner, as evidenced by the ANC’s countless violations of citizens’ rights, particularly the seasonal violence and xenophobia perpetrated against other African residents and migrant workers in various parts of the richly blessed country.
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Seriously, I believe he aspires to boost South Africa’s clout and position as an influential power actor and possible leader across the continent. But first and foremost, he must correct his country’s home atmosphere.
He was elected President of one of Africa’s oldest political organizations and liberation movements on December 18, 2017. As they say, the rest is history. Comrade Ramaphosa became a highly successful and wealthy business executive a few years later, thanks to a combination of lucrative investments, expanded prospects for Blacks, and clever relationships. He has also been on the board of MTN, a corporation that provides information, telecommunications, and financial services. Ramaphosa is valued at least R7 billion South African Rand (US $500 million) according to USAfrica and USAfricaonline.com News Index 2021.
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