Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Julius Malema, has described xenophobia as a betrayal of African unity, insisting it is driven by poverty, inequality, and government failure rather than by migrants.

Speaking as keynote speaker at the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference in Enugu on Sunday, Malema said, “Xenophobia is a betrayal of African unity. It is a sickness borne of poverty, inequality, and government failure. Its victims are our African brothers and sisters. Nigerians, Zimbabweans, Congolese, and Somalis are not the cause of South Africa’s unemployment crisis. The cause lies in the untransformed dichotomy of South Africa, which remains in the hands of the white minority and multinational corporations who continue to exploit while refusing to industrialise.”

The firebrand opposition leader stressed that South African and Nigerian businesses have deeply integrated into each other’s economies, while Nigerian music, film, and literature continue to shape South African culture. He argued that true African unity requires economic integration.

“If we want to end one-way migration, where Nigerians are forced to leave home in search of opportunity in South Africa, we must integrate our economies. Young Nigerian engineers should be able to work in Johannesburg, Cairo, and Accra, not as foreigners but as Africans contributing to Africa. South African entrepreneurs should be able to set up in Lagos without suspicion but with support as partners in a shared future,” Malema said.

Highlighting the combined resources of Nigeria and South Africa, Malema urged both nations to lead Africa into industrialisation. “Nigeria is blessed with oil, natural gas, and a growing agricultural sector. South Africa holds some of the richest deposits of platinum, magnesium, and coal in the world. Combined, we possess the minerals, the energy resources, and the human capital to build a self-sufficient continent. Yet both our nations remain trapped in neo-colonial arrangements, where raw materials are exported cheaply and sold back to us at crazy prices as finished goods. This cycle of dependency we must break.”

Malema further rejected the idea that Africa’s salvation would come from foreign powers. “Our salvation lies here in Lagos and Johannesburg, in Abuja and Pretoria, in the hands of Africans who refuse to be divided. We must harmonise trade policies, align visa regimes, and build continental infrastructure that connects our people. We actually do not need a visa between South Africa and Nigeria in the same way we don’t need a visa for people to travel within their continent. We are one.”

The EFF president reiterated his radical call for a unified Africa under one authority. “One president, one parliament, one currency, and one military command will consolidate our strength,” he declared, urging Nigeria and South Africa to drive the African Continental Free Trade Area in a way that benefits ordinary citizens.

He also warned African governments against reckless borrowing from international lenders, stressing the need to regulate loans from the World Bank and IMF.

“Africans must love themselves, not kill one another. Black people are not loved in Africa, and not loved abroad either, but we must learn to treat ourselves better,” Malema said, rejecting the “dark continent” label and insisting Africa is richly endowed with diamonds, minerals, and resources that can secure prosperity.