Why Africa Cannot Abandon Cuba

In a speech delivered in Lagos on October 24, 2026, Femi Falana recalls Cuba’s support for African anticolonial movements beginning in the 1960s, including in Ghana, Algeria and Portugal’s African colonies. Cuba sent advisers, fighters and equipment to Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Angola, where more than 55,000 Cuban troops took part in the 1987–1988 Battle of Cuito Cuanavale. Falana says South Africa’s battlefield setbacks helped lead to negotiations that culminated in Namibian independence in 1990 and the end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994. He also points to Cuba’s medical assistance in Africa, including the deployment of more than 460 health workers during the 2014–2015 West African Ebola outbreak.