On Africa Day, former opposition leader Nelson Chamisa delivered a powerful message to the continent’s youth, urging them to take up the mantle of leadership and drive a new revolution not of weapons, but of ideas, transformation, and institutional reform.
In a passionate post, Chamisa reflected on Africa’s immense natural wealth:
“Africa holds 30% of the world’s mineral reserves, 8% of its natural gas, 12% of global oil, 40% of the world’s gold, and up to 90% of its chromium and platinum. We hold 65% of the planet’s arable land and 10% of its renewable freshwater.”
He argued that Africa’s problem is not poverty, but poor governance and weak leadership. “Africa is not a dark continent, it is a poorly led continent,” Chamisa declared.
Calling on young people from Cape to Cairo, Accra to Nairobi, Lagos to Dar es Salaam, he invoked the legacy of past youthful revolutionaries like Kwame Nkrumah, Thomas Sankara, Patrice Lumumba, Julius Nyerere, Samora Machel, Herbert Chitepo, and Nelson Mandela. “We dare not betray their dreams,” Chamisa said.
He urged Africa’s youth to embrace a mission of rebuilding broken institutions, restoring dignity, and prioritizing strong systems over ‘strongmen’ politics. “The young must govern. The moment is now. Let’s remake Africa,” Chamisa concluded, wishing all Africans a blessed and hopeful Africa Day.
