African Leadership Quotes

Across Africa there is what I call a colonialist mentality or orthodoxy. Orthodoxy in the sense that a lot of things have gone wrong in Africa in the post-colonial period. And time and time again, any time something went wrong, the leadership claims that it was never their fault.

The African head of state should be in office for no more than 10 years

Ethiopia did not have the same problem [of corruption]. African leaders looked at us with envy.

Every man, woman and child knows about Mugabe, but people say, 'Mogae, who is that?'

A new generation of leaders is emerging in Africa who does not want to approach the world with a begging bowl. Leaders who want to engage the world as partners; leaders who are prepared to take responsibilities for the problems of their countries and continent; leaders who recognize the enormous opportunities that abound in the world and are eager to connect Africa to the centers of those opportunities; leaders who want to harness the huge resources of Africa to play on the global stage; leaders who are not content to ask, ‘what can the rest of the world do for us', but rather ‘what can we do with the rest of the world.'

If I were not African, I wonder whether it would be clear to me that Africa is a place where the people do not need limp gifts of fish but sturdy fishing rods and fair access to the pond. I wonder whether I would realize that while African nations have a failure of leadership, they also have dynamic people with agency and voices.

The Nobel Prize is worth $1.5 million, but that's not the issue. Do the distinguished scientists who win the Nobel Prize need the money? Probably not. The honor is more important the money, and that's the case with the prize for African leadership as well.

Don't talk to me about what's happened since [Nelson] Mandela! His successor was absolutely hopeless - "no such thing as AIDS" - and this present President... It's a tragedy, you know, what's happened there post-Mandela, because he was an iconic figure.

Africa should not just wait to be exploited or influenced. No. We should be part of the conversation. We should raise ourselves to a level where there are certain terms we dictate in the conversation because we have a lot to offer.

The Children's Hospital will be a credible demonstration of the commitment of African leaders to place the rights of children at the forefront. Nothing less would be enough.

We know that the African regimes, many African regimes have failed their people and many Africans want regime change, and there are a lot of African leaders who make promises but don't carry them out. I mean, the progress - I mean, it is noble for the rich countries to help Africa, but then the question is: What are African leaders themselves doing to help their own people?

I am the hero of Africa.

I love Obama, and I love the fact that it's a black president of the United States of America, but he's not the first black president. Robert Mugabe is a black president, too, so let's not get to talking about precedents being set.

I would love to be the African leader that steps down, that overthrows this idea of a Big Man ruler. I don't want to stay in office forever.

I can't think of a 30- or 40-year-old who can behave like Mugabe. They wouldn't even know where to begin, and given their own educational exposure, I think it will be very positive for Africa.

I've been saying it all along: please do not demonise Robert Mugabe. I'm not saying the methods he's using are correct, but he was put under great pressure.

Nobody can come and develop Africa on behalf of Africans.

Those who have the ability as African men to bring a change in a community that so desperately needs it are concentrating only on their own careers, some charities, and how much money they can make.

Africans are on the front lines of humanitarian efforts, distributing life-saving aid in dangerous environments. Africans comprise the vast majority of peacekeepers in civil conflict on that continent. Africans for the most part lead peace negotiations for the wars being fought in Africa.

Our country has the potential not just to be the giant of Africa but a major economic giant in the world.

I don't see myself anywhere specifically, but you can't deny that, in terms of opportunities to create or be an entrepreneur, Africa is a boulevard - it's still all to be done there. And as an African guy, as a Cameroonian, I will obviously do as many things as I can over there.

It is my firm belief that action on the issues that matter for Africa must emerge from within Africa itself.

There has been a failure of leadership all over post colonial Africa to unite the country’s people.

If NATO goes in and solves the crisis in Darfur, when the next one comes along Africa's leaders will just sit back.

You go to conferences, and your fellow African intellectuals - and even heads of state - they all say: 'Nigeria is a big disappointment. It is the shame of the African continent.'