President Barack Obama spoke to students at the University of Cape Town Sunday in an address that was inspired by Robert Kennedy’s famous “Ripple of Hope” speech at the university nearly 50 years earlier.
In the talk, he tasked young South Africans with fufilling the legacy of Nelson Mandela and shared his own experience of visiting the Robben Island prison, where Mandela spent 18 years locked up, with his two daughters earlier in the day.
“Nelson Mandela showed us that one man’s courage can move the world,” Obama said. “Seeing [my daughters] stand within the walls that once surrounded Nelson Mandela…I knew this was an experience they would never forget.”
Obama also called on America to “step up our game when it comes to Africa.” He officially rolled out Power Africa–a new intiative that will double access to power in Sub-Saharan Africa.
He added that he would invite the heads of African states to America sometime next year for a summit.
“You will always find the extended hand of a friend in the United States of America,” Obama said.
