Guinea’s President Alpha Conde, who currently holds the rotating presidency of the African Union, calls (in French) in this video clip for an end to the poorly veiled colonial domination of Africa by richer nations. The three main appeals he makes are for:
Video of Alpha Conde’s speech
Language: French

1. Africa and Africans to believe in herself and in the entrepreneurial acumen of its own peoples, not just foreign investors. African entrepreneurs, he says, will truly develop a continent that is theirs, that they know better than anyone else and that they have at heart more than all others. He also calls for a stronger belief in and support for Africa’s heroes however wildly they demonized by the West.

2. He warns of the double-edged sword that is Africa’s fast growing but increasingly restless youth population. Africa can either reap this demographic dividend or waste it by neglecting to put in place policies that promote a rapid reduction of poverty and the ability for Africa’s to share the fruits of growth more equitably between the poor and the rich. Terrorism, he says, is borne of poverty and misery and will not be defeated by the gun. Rather, pro-poor programs can help build a more prosperous and safer Africa.

2. He invites Africans, especially those of French-speaking African countries, to cut off the umbilical cord linking them to a colonial past that can only bring them ruin. The illustration he picks to buttress this point is not the colonial CFA Franc imposed by France on 15 African nations; as bad as that is and notwithstanding Guinea’s historic position against it. He makes a joke of Africa’s so-called independence by citing the fact that the African Union relies for funding from the European Union.

Cote d’Ivoire’s President Alassane Ouattara who takes to the rostrum after President Alpha Conde insinuates that the latter said things that he would not have said publicly had he known that the speech was carried on “live” TV. To which Alpha Conde lives up to the promise of Guinea’s independence president, Sekou Toure, by reaffirming: “Alassane, I assume full responsibility for what I have said”.

Can I hear the Sovereign People of Africa say Amen to that?