On May 7, the French people elected Emmanuel Macron as their new president. Macron was born on 21 December 1977, which means he is only 39 years old.
France is a major colonial power in the past holding more than half the space of Africa as its possession. Even when those colonies gained independence in the 1960s, France continues to wield huge power and control over 14 French-speaking countries in Africa until today. These countries continue to pay a colonial tax to France until today. Paris also controls the economies and treasuries of these hapless African countries until today.
While that is already a mindboggling reality, the other shameful reality is that Macron was only between 10 and 20 years old when many of these African presidents took office. In fact in the case of Pres. Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, Macron was just two years old when that dictator took power through a coup. Macron was only three years when Mugabe took power in Zimbabwe. Macron was only 10 years when Museveni became president of Uganda, and Macron was only 20 years when Dennis Sassou Nguesso became President of Congo in 1997 for the second time.
Yet that young boy has now grown old enough to become the president of one of the most powerful nations in the world at just 39 years! Meantime these African presidents still serve as presidents in their impoverished and oppressed countries for decades thanks to their corrupt leadership. Here are some of them.
- José Eduardo dos Santos, President of Angola (1979–present)
- Paul Biya, President of Cameroon (1982–present)
- Idriss Déby, President of Chad (1990–present)
- Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Congo (1997–present)
- Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea (1979–present)
- Isaias Afwerki, President of Eritrea (1991–present)
- Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan (1989–present)
- Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda (1986–present)
- Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe (1980–present)
Yet none of these leaders has any plans to quit office after so many years in power, which has brought nothing to their people other than more poverty, deprivation, oppression and exploitation. Interestingly soon they will all answer to the call of Pres. Emmanuel Macron in Paris to talk about the development of Africa. This is because the first thing each and every new French president does is to call all his African Slave Presidents to answer to him to further cement the control of France over Africa.
The sweetest part this time is that all the African Slave Presidents will now be answering to their son and grandson Emmanuel Macron. They will all pretend to be his children as they pose with him for photos and bow and smile to him as they greet him at the Elysees Palace. They will listen to him keenly to tell them how France will help Africa and what kind of behaviour he expects from them. Yet it is clear that France has never and will never help Africa to develop but will continue to exploit and loot Africa as it has always done since the days before Napoleon Bonaparte!
But the fact that there are so many such presidents in Africa clearly speaks to the very weakness and stagnation of the continent. These leaders have succeeded in nothing other than paralyzing the continent into the wretched of the earth where countries like France or China or US among many others just enter to rape and pillage our people and resources with impunity. Even those governments in countries we consider to be democracies such as Ghana, Senegal, Botswana, Cape Verde and Mauritius have failed to provide the necessary and strategic leadership that should have transformed those countries into highly developed countries by now after having up to 20 years of consistent democratic stability. By now these countries must have removed most of their populations out of poverty with affordable and efficient social services available to most people, with quality infrastructure in all sectors and vibrant economies.
Sometimes one wonders what goes on in the heads of Africa’s intellectuals and politicians in charge of our institutions of governance and development. One wonders whether we do reflect indeed as human beings to study how the rest of the world is unfolding and acting before our eyes. One wonders whether we do have an idea about where we came from and what experiences we encountered in that history in order to know where we need to go.
How come with such large army of educated people with abundant natural resources and a hard working, law abiding and young population, yet our leaders and governments cannot fully mobilize these huge resources and opportunities to bring about tangible change in our lives after so many decades of independence. Yet one can see how non-Africans easily come into Africa to reap billions of dollars in profit while leaving our teeming masses in poverty and deprivation. It makes one wonder really…!
God Bless Africa.
Mr. Madi,
Thank you for highlighting the “curtsies and handshakes” some of the African presidents have to give at will or by manipulation to the colonial powers. But why do this at the expense of your fellow countrymen’s economic, social and political freedom?
I think they tow the line so they would get the political and financial support of those colonial states to keep power in their countries where, evidently, almost 90% of military and civilian populations would want them dead. It is their grandest wish that if they were to retire, not as presidents but as living organisms, then they do it in the comfort of the statehouse bed for they fear of the treatment they’d receive from their successors.
On the other hand, it is sad that some of these presidents have managed to hold their countries hostage for long such that their victims (citizens) no longer believe they are patients of the Stockholm Syndrome. They sing chants and praises of the very devils who siphom their blood in broad daylight in the name of patrtiotism. This is a population that is blind – or is it resigned – to the ills it is subjected to by their ‘heaven-sent’ leaders!
Put in a tribal (ethnic) factor into the equation, and you have a country in a mess that even Christ would not manage to clean in 10 lifetimes.
Case study: Kenya.
People misread and misjudge the CCP ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES in their prognosis of doom for the Chinese economy – w.r.t the massive upliftment of 100s of millions out of abject poverty,drudgery and misery.
AFRICA CAN LEARN FROM CHINESE COMMUNIST PRINCIPLES
Take the example of the Chinese “Ghost Towns” and its impact on Bank NPAs
Let us assume that 30 million tons of steel,was used in the so called ghost towns,15 years ago.After 30 years, when these buildings are replaced,this will be steel scrap,and its price will be double the price.of prime steel today.The cement is a dead loss.
But let us dig deeper.Bao Steel may bill steel to a builder,at say,200 usd/ton,but the Marginal cost of that steel,might be 100 usd/ton.This is not enough.The Marginal COST To the steel cluster,in a communist nation would be 15-20 usd per ton,as the coal mines and steel factory,ports,rails,roads etc.,are already in place.The difference between the coal tarriff and the marginal cost of coal is a TRANSFER PAYMENT FROM Bao steel to the coal mine and ports etc (if Bao is buying Coal)
If Coal is selling at 50 usd/ton,the Marginal Cost would be 4-5 USD (being cost of power,diesel and cost of variable labour).
So the MARGINAL COST of the Ghost towns,would be 10-15% of the contracted value of the towns.
At that time,it was the RIGHT decision to set up these “ghost towns”,as the price of steel,coal,cement,paints,labour etc., was much lower,and so was their marginal cost.It made sense to lower the ENTIRE PRODUCTION cost of these plants, by MAXIMISING production, and then using the production,in so called GHOST TOWNS.The benefit of lowering the ENTIRE PRODUCTION cost of the steel,coal,cement plants,would be in the billions of USD.IF THE SAME INFRASTRUCTURE WERE TO BE SET UP AT TODAY’s PRICES OF steel,coal,cement,the cost WOULD BE MUCH HIGHER (far beyond the accrued Chinese Inter bank interest rates over the years)
As far as the banks who lent to the builders of these so called ghost towns – it is important to understand that the Banks have NOT funded the towns.The Banks have funded the input suppliers of these towns,id.est., the steel,cement,paints, furniture and appliances etc factories. In particular,the banks have implicitly funded,the profits of these input suppliers.
Then we calculate the employment provided to a mass of labour in these ghost town projects,and its attendant benefits and the management and technical expertise,developed by the builders,in these ghost town projects.
It must also be noted that the INCREMENTAL PROFITS earned by the steel,cement,paints,furniture and appliances etc. factories,as suppliers to the builders of the ghost towns – would have in the last 15 years,based on a ROCE of 20-30 % ,yielded an aggregate return of 1000-1500% to date (with the attendant revenue streams to the PRC,in the form of direct and indirect taxes,besides other incidental gains)
Hence,for a Communist nation,the Marginal Cost for the Cluster of the “Ghost Towns” (which includes the downstream supply chain benefits and the benefits to the state) is very low and MIGHT even be NEGATIVE,based on the Marginal Cost of the CLUSTER.
If the PRC calculates the incremental gains to the steel,cement,paints,furniture and appliances etc. factories,and their staff,over the past 15 years and the revenue earned by the state from this chain,over the last 15 years,the gains per se, could more than bail out the bank loans,to the so called ghost towns
IT MUST BE NOTED THAT THE LABOUR — USED IN THE GHOST TOWNS,AND THE LABOUR — USED (IN PART),IN THE INPUT SUPPLIERS, TO THESE GHOST TOWNS – would have had NO OTHER employment,were it NOT for the Ghost town projects. These millions of labour were introduced into the labour pool,ONLY due to these Ghost Towns.Of course,they would have inevitably entered into the labour pool – but only after 5-10 years (on such a large scale).
Hence,there is no loss to the PRC,on account of these so called “ghost towns”.dindooohindoo