My Beauty Best Teacher

Image by Rachel Smith via Flickr

You’d think that the passing of a man who systematically looted his country for four decades would be the cause for celebration. Unfortunately, there’s no reason to believe it’s going to get better any time soon. Several African big men have passed on in the past decade, and the situation hasn’t improved much for their beleaguered subjects. When Togo’s Eyadema Gnassingbe died in 2005, the military installed his son, Faure… who was “elected” soon after. Lansana Conté died in December 2008, and within six hours of the announcement of his death, a military government voided the constitution and took over in a coup d’etat. No one’s predicting a coup in Gabon - the minister of Defense is Ali Ben Bongo, Bongo’s son and almost certain successor

Image via WikipediaThe Times reports on the corruption and excesses of another aid seeking African leader-Omar Bongo:

A mansion worth £15m in one of Paris’s most elegant districts has become the latest of 33 luxury properties bought in France by President Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, the world’s longest-serving leader, and his family, it was alleged last week...[continue reading]

The Guardian profiles the life long rule of Omar Bongo,president of Gabon:

Bongo's rule has been a masterclass in the use of patronage. His ascent to the presidency coincided with Gabon's rise to being Africa's third-biggest oil producer, and he quickly realised that money could be more effective than bullets in keeping power...The scale of the high-level cronyism and corruption astonishes diplomats from other African countries. "In Gabon, government and business are one and the same," said one. "If you want to do business here, you must know a minister, or at least somebody with the surname Bongo."

Alex Perry in Time Magazine

...it's worth remembering that Bongo was precisely the kind of leader Gabon, and Africa, could have done without. Gabon has a tiny population (1.4 million) and vast oil reserves, and after four decades of exporting hundreds of billions of dollars of crude,the biggest testament to the corruption and ineptitude of Bongo's rule is that he somehow contrived not to turn his country into an African Kuwait...[continue reading]

Alex Perry in Time Magazine

...it's worth remembering that Bongo was precisely the kind of leader Gabon, and Africa, could have done without. Gabon has a tiny population (1.4 million) and vast oil reserves, and after four decades of exporting hundreds of billions of dollars of crude,the biggest testament to the corruption and ineptitude of Bongo's rule is that he somehow contrived not to turn his country into an African Kuwait...[continue reading]

From Edward Rackley at 3QuarksDaily:

Conté belonged to a dwindling species of wizened and paranoid leaders-for-life, whose ranks include Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe and Omar Bongo of Gabon. Once hailed as liberators and visionaries, they became pathetic parables of 'absolute power corrupting absolutely'. The psychological path from flamboyant liberator to murderous despot is dramatic stuff, and was ably fictionalized in The Last King of Scotland. An excellent non-fiction account of Mobutu Sese Seko’s rise and fall is Mobutu, Roi du Zaire, by Thierry Michel...[continue reading]

Nkwazi Mhango writes in the African Executive:

Though Africa is more democratic than it was 40 years ago, its future has nary treaded water with me. How can it make sense if it still has stinking legacy of having dictators that ruined their countries for over 40 years such as Gadaffi, Omar Bongo, Gnassigbe Eyadema and other that have been in power for over thirty years?
How can Africa make it democratically if all we see is the coming back of ruling dynasties hell bent to prolong and extend their stays in power in order to conceal their dirty linens-by the way of passing the batons over to their kids or cronies?

France's destructive France Afrique policy continues in Gabon. VOA reports:

The clashes that erupted following Gabon's disputed presidential elections reflect not only anger at the results of the August vote - which proclaimed Ali Bongo the winner - but also at former colonial ruler France. Paris has denied any involvement in the vote, but the unrest raises new questions at what has changed - and what has stayed the same - when it comes to France's relations with its onetime African colonies.
They call it France-Afrique. France's historically close - critics argue suffocatingly close - relations with its former African colonies, and sometimes with African strongmen and undemocratic regimes.

Nkwazi Mhango writes in the African Executive:

Though Africa is more democratic than it was 40 years ago, its future has nary treaded water with me. How can it make sense if it still has stinking legacy of having dictators that ruined their countries for over 40 years such as Gadaffi, Omar Bongo, Gnassigbe Eyadema and other that have been in power for over thirty years?
How can Africa make it democratically if all we see is the coming back of ruling dynasties hell bent to prolong and extend their stays in power in order to conceal their dirty linens-by the way of passing the batons over to their kids or cronies?

Khadija Sharife in FPIF writes:

The portrayal of Africa's strong-arm leaders as lone rangers obscures the system underpinning the dictatorships and delinks dictators from their primary source of sustenance. The rhetoric of French-controlled development endorsed by Bongo is a subset of France's postcolonial Africa policy — Françafrique — designed to create structural dependence and domination by reasserting geostrategic control over natural resources through the use of black "governors." The pulse of the Françafrique ideology — fric is slang for cash — is rooted in shadow economies sustaining respectable corporations, various intersecting shadow networks, secret services, private lobbies, and political and diplomatic relationships between the official and unofficial political elite. These forces are individually and collectively able to mobilize substantial economic, political, and military support.

AfricanViewpoint reports that the targets of a French corruption inquiry have resorted to the predictable and pathetic 'racism' excuse:

Congo's president-Denis Sassou-Nguesso- has condemned a French investigation into alleged embezzlement by him and Gabon's leader-Omar Bongo Ondimba- as "racist" and "colonial". There are on-going investigations on claims that Nguesso's properties are ill-gotten wealth that must be seized and sold, with the proceeds being used to build schools and hospitals in Africa. Denis Sassou-Nguesso is said to have lamented the fact that only he and Gabon's leader were targeted even though, "In France, all the world's leaders have castles and so on."

France's destructive France Afrique policy continues in Gabon. VOA reports:

The clashes that erupted following Gabon's disputed presidential elections reflect not only anger at the results of the August vote - which proclaimed Ali Bongo the winner - but also at former colonial ruler France. Paris has denied any involvement in the vote, but the unrest raises new questions at what has changed - and what has stayed the same - when it comes to France's relations with its onetime African colonies.
They call it France-Afrique. France's historically close - critics argue suffocatingly close - relations with its former African colonies, and sometimes with African strongmen and undemocratic regimes.

Carolyn O’Hara writes about China and India's rising economic involvment in Africa. "...The two Asian giants are pouring funds into the continent to find energy for their superheated economies and markets for their products...Why all the interest in the forgotten continent? A goodie bag of exploitable markets and exploitable resources. China has flooded Africa with cheap textiles, rice, and electronics. India has cornered the market in generic pharmaceuticals used to treat HIV and offers the hardware and software needed to get Africa on the information superhighway. Africa, in turn, is feeding the insatiable Asian thirst for energy: Both India and China have negotiated oil, gas, timber, and coal contracts worth billions of dollars...The burgeoning business offers African leaders an inside look at China’s and India’s enviable development models, which over the last decade have produced annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth of more than 9 percent and nearly 7 percent, respectively. China offers a manufacturing model built around cheap goods for export that many African countries are eager to emulate. India brings other assets to the table. “India has shown that poverty can be reduced through the knowledge industry,” says Manu Chandaria, Kenya-based chairman of the Comcraft Group, a steel, aluminum, and computer software conglomerate run by Chandaria’s Indian family in more than 40 countries..." Worryingly so though "...neither India nor China pesters African governments about good governance or human rights. After Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Gabon last year, Gabonese President Omar Bongo remarked that, “It seems to me that the aid provided by certain countries is tied aid, [but] cooperation with China comes without conditions, with mutual respect.” This mutual respect often means looking the other way when it comes to repression and official graft...".Chippla recently expressed concerns on the the motives of the Chinese and in light of recent loans offered to the Zimbabwean govt by China the question needs to be asked on whose side are the Chinese, the peoples or the tyrants?

Business as usual, French corruption in Africa.
The passing of a whistleblower-David Munyakei via Displaced African
Another call for Intra-African trade.
Emerging markets have more to say-Mbanking
Questioning Abdoulaye Wade...
The paradox of plenty against a backdrop of plunder.
Nigeria and Ethiopia top investment index via African Loft
Zimbabwe farmers make progress in Nigeria.
More on the Africa Asia comparison theme from Coldtusker
The Gulf continues to invest in the continent.
How Mugabe steals.. via Global Voices
Bongo's french accounts frozen...Switzerland next?
Githongo on corruption-Economist