U.S. first lady Jill Biden told an enthused crowd of Namibian leaders on Thursday that the futures of the U.S. and Africa are “intertwined,” saying that African voices and leadership are critical to solving the world's most pressing challenges.
Addressing a luncheon in her honor that featured colorful singing, dancing and drumming, Biden said that when she and President Joe Biden were discussing her five-day visit to the continent, he told her how much Namibia's struggle against apartheid inspired him to speak out when he was a U.S. senator. Namibia was once under the rule of South Africa, where the government operated under a now-abolished system of white minority rule.
