Former South African president Jacob Zuma called in Accra for the creation of a single African currency, denouncing the continent’s reliance on the US dollar and urging a new era of economic and political autonomy.
At the University of Professional Studies in Accra, Ghana, Jacob Zuma delivered a speech that sounded like a call for unity and emancipation. Invited as part of the university’s annual leadership lecture, the former South African head of state placed monetary policy at the center of his intervention. For him, African sovereignty cannot be achieved as long as the continent remains tied to foreign currencies, particularly the US dollar.
“One Africa, one currency, one destiny,” he declared before an attentive audience. Zuma denounced the fact that nearly 80% of African trade is conducted in external currencies, a paradox that undermines the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area and weakens intra-African exchanges. His speech comes at a time when the BRICS bloc is gaining influence and debates over de-dollarization in emerging economies are intensifying , a trend he believes offers Africa a historic opportunity.
Beyond monetary issues, Zuma insisted that African nations must add value to their natural resources locally and free themselves from dependence on international aid. “Africa needs strategic allies, not aid,” he stated, arguing that assistance perpetuates structural dependency. For him, economic integration also requires building African trade platforms that can strengthen exchanges and reduce the influence of former colonial powers.
His tone was both visionary and insistent, echoing the pan-African ideals once championed by leaders like Kwame Nkrumah or Muammar Gaddafi, who had promoted the idea of an African gold-backed dinar. Zuma thus revived an old but pressing debate: whether Africa can speak with one voice, trade with its own financial instruments, and chart its destiny without external tutelage.
In Accra, Jacob Zuma did more than deliver a lecture: he reignited a conversation that strikes at the heart of Africa’s future. His call for a single currency may sound utopian, but it reflects a conviction deeply rooted in the continent’s struggle : that Africa’s future will only be built through unity and independence.
Joseph Kabuye , Correspondent , Kampala
