President Obama had in mind when, during his Africa tour in July 2015, he criticised African leaders, saying, ‘The continent will not advance if its leaders refuse to step down when their terms end . . . Sometimes you will hear leaders say, “I’m the only person who can hold this nation together.” If that’s true then that leader has truly failed to build their nation.’ That sentence encompassed both the colonial legacy of Africa and how its modern leaders have often been part of the problem rather than the solution to that legacy.
