Before They Were World Leaders: Africa Edition

Question: Agostinho Neto, president of Angola

Answer: Agostinho Neto studied medicine in Portugal, Angola’s colonial administrator at the time. He returned home to Angola to practice medicine and became active in the Angolan liberation movement. He was also well known for being a gifted poet.

Question: Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, president of Sudan

Answer: Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir studied at a military college in Cairo. Returning to Sudan, he rose rapidly through the ranks of that country’s army.

Question: Pierre Nkurunziza, president of Burundi

Answer: Pierre Nkurunziza graduated from the University of Burundi in Bujumbura with a degree in physical education. He went on to teach high school and served as an assistant lecturer at the university before emerging as a rebel leader in Burundi’s civil war.

Question: Marc Ravalomanana, president of Madagascar

Answer: After attending school in Sweden, Marc Ravalomanana returned to Madagascar and launched a family venture selling homemade yogurt, which quickly grew into a booming business. He secured a loan to purchase his first factory, and he soon had a monopoly on dairy and oil products.

Question: Ahmadou Ahidjo, president of Cameroon

Answer: Ahmadou Ahidjo served as a radio operator in the French colonial administration of Cameroon.

Question: Goodluck Jonathan, president of Nigeria

Answer: Goodluck Jonathan attended the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria, earning a B.S. in zoology, an M.S. in hydrobiology and fisheries biology, and a Ph.D. in zoology.

Question: Léopold Sédar Senghor, president of Senegal

Answer: Léopold Sédar Senghor studied and later taught in France, Senegal’s colonial administrator at the time. He was also well known for being an accomplished poet and a leader of the Negritude literary movement.

Question: Julius Nyerere, president of Tanzania

Answer: Julius Nyerere attended Edinburgh University in Scotland. He graduated with an M.A. in history and economics in 1952 and returned to Tanganyika (now mainland Tanzania) to teach.