Brian Kagoro delivers a powerful Pan-Africanist challenge from Kigali, Rwanda. Are Africans willing to stop fighting over “mice and rats” and start building the Africa they actually deserve?
In this thought-provoking speech at the Meta Africa Conference in Kigali, Pan-Africanist lawyer and advocate Brian Kagoro examines the forces holding Africa back; from tribalism, xenophobia and petty political rivalries to dependence on foreign skills, capital and ideas.
Kagoro argues that Africa’s greatest threat may not always come from outside the continent. Instead, he warns that Africans are undermining their own future when resentment, division and narrow national interests take precedence over African unity.
His central message is captured in one striking proverb: _“If a cat wishes to be a lion, it must lose its appetite for mice or rats.”_
Brian Kagoro challenges Africans to think beyond inherited borders, rethink sovereignty, strengthen African-owned businesses and develop the skills, networks, wealth and humanity necessary to shape Africa’s future on African terms.
He identifies four pillars for a new generation of Pan-Africanism:
1. Skill — Africa must develop its own human and technical capabilities.
2. Network — African strength lies in relationships and the ability to connect across borders.
3. Net worth — African resources and markets must create African ownership and wealth.
4. Ubuntu — African unity must be rooted in mutuality, reciprocity and our shared humanity.
From African trade and economic sovereignty to the legacy of Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson Mandela, Albert Luthuli and Thomas Sankara, this is a speech about what it means to imagine and build a different African future.
What do YOU think is Africa’s biggest obstacle: leadership, tribalism, economic dependence, lack of skills, or something else? Drop your answer in the comments.
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© Africa Web TV 2026
00:00 Africa’s “Premier League of Pettiness”
01:39 Where Africa’s Real Wealth Is
02:26 Breaking the Colonial Mindset
02:49 Rethinking African Potential
03:34 Borders, Sovereignty & Pan-Africanism
03:52 Nkrumah, Mandela & the African Ideal
04:22 What Does “African Trade” Really Mean?
05:31 Leadership Is an Obstacle – Not the Alpha & Omega
06:05 The Cat, the Lion & the Mice
07:27 Eagles vs Chickens: Seeing the Bigger Picture
08:18 Four Pillars of Modern Pan-Africanism
08:32 Pillar #1 — Skill
09:27 Pillar #2 — Network
09:56 Pillar #3 — Net Worth
10:26 Pillar #4 — Ubuntu
11:44 “We Are Africa’s Parents”
12:03 Giving Birth to the Africa We Deserve
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