Malema: Africa’s Future Depends on Lagos–Johannesburg Cooperation, Not Foreign Debt

South Africa’s opposition leader, Julius Malema, has urged African nations to resist what he called the “debt trap” of unchecked foreign loans, warning that such borrowing risks enslaving future generations.

Speaking at the opening of the Nigerian Bar Association’s Annual General Conference in Enugu, Malema stressed that Africa must regulate external borrowing and instead focus on building industrial partnerships within the continent.

“The habit of mortgaging our children’s future to international lenders must end. Leaders who sign off these loans won’t be here when creditors demand repayment,” Malema cautioned.

Malema, who leads the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), noted that his party has tabled the Public Finance Management Amendment Bill in South Africa to ensure parliamentary oversight before the government takes foreign loans. The bill also seeks to enhance transparency about loan conditions.

He recalled Nigeria’s role in supporting South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle and called for renewed cooperation between Africa’s two largest economies. According to him, Nigeria and South Africa hold the mineral wealth, energy resources, and human capital needed to build a self-reliant continent.

“The way forward is for us to industrialise side by side, build factories on African soil, and process our own resources. Africa’s hope will not come from Washington, London, Brussels, or Beijing—it lies here, in Lagos and Johannesburg, Abuja and Pretoria,” Malema declared to an audience of lawyers and dignitaries.