Gabon Signs Manganese Production and Extraction Partnership

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments, Great PeopleLeave a comment
Map of Gabon

As we highlighted last week, Gabon was part of the five African countries invited to the White House last year by US President Donald Trump. Gabon was the only country invited to the summit which was not part of West Africa. Gabon is not only rich in oil but also rich in uranium and manganese, and has one of the world’s largest iron deposit. Gabon has significant iron ore reserves, particularly in the Belinga area, which is estimated to hold about one billion tons of iron ore. Since the visit, Gabon has unveiled several infrastructure deals including the Belinga–Boué–Mayumba railway (901 km) which will open up the north east areas of the country, a new deep-water port, the Boué hydroelectric dam, and a push for local processing of mineral resources. 

Yesterday, the president of Gabon Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, while in visit in France to meet French President Macron, unveiled yet another project, this time in connection with the French mining group Eramet for the exploitation of Manganese; with hopes of opening the south east region by rehabilitating approximately 650 km of railway linking Owendo near the capital Libreville to Franceville in the east as part of the Trans-Gabon Railway, and the exploitation and transformation of 700,000 tons of manganese (Africanews). There will be three phases including the creation of a factory for the production of manganese oxide to be built in Libreville by 2028, the construction of a unique site in Moanda specially for the transformation of this mineral in Gabon, and lastly the building of new plant for the production of manganese alloys locally to be built in 2031.

Flag of Gabon

The office of the Gabonese president stated that the agreement will help “generate greater added value within the country, support its industrialisation and boost the competitiveness of the national economy.” These will be followed by other agreements to cover security (maybe consolidating the defense part of The 11 Components of the French Colonial Tax in Africa? Not to forget that Oligui Nguema came to power via a coup) and water and energy sectors.

We applaud all these projects which mark a jump towards the industrialization of the country, and pray that these actually end up benefiting the people, as opposed to the countless other agreements signed over the years which have very little to show for. We still hope that African countries would unite to make stronger contracts/ agreements to get the best deals possible and bigger jumps toward development.

Why were those African Countries Invited to the White House for the US-Africa Summit ? The Case of Gabon

On By Dr. Y.In Great Economy, Great MomentsLeave a comment
American President Donald Trump and his 5 peers from Africa at the US-Africa Summit. From left to right: Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Senegal, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El-Ghazouani of Mauritania, Donald Trump of US, Brice Oligui Nguema of Gabon, Joseph Boakai of Liberia, and Umaro Embalo Sissoco of Guinea Bissau (Source: Koaci.com)

In July 2025, the presidents of 5 “unusual” African countries were invited to the White House to dine with the President of the United States at the US-Africa Summit. “Unusual” because these were not the normal countries used to being invited to the White House, they were less common choices : Senegal, Gabon, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, and Mauritania. The choice of the countries was so surprising that even the American president was astonished that the Liberian president spoke such good English without a translator… seemingly forgetting that Liberia is the first African country established by free slaves from America with the capital Monrovia, named after American president James Monroe. In fact, Liberia was the only English-speaking country invited to the summit. Compared to other African heavyweights like Nigeria, Egypt or South Africa, these countries have rather small populations and economies. And in all honesty, how many Americans know that the capital of Mauritania is Nouakchott or can even say it? or that of Gabon is Libreville? Many speculated that the visit had something to do with trade; after all, these countries had, until then, very little trade with the US. So what is it? It is said that Senegal, Liberia, and Mauritania were seen as relatively stable and reform-oriented, making them attractive for: aviation and energy deals, private investment, and infrastructure partnerships.There is nothing wrong that we know of with those deals or development as a whole… but we need to understand why.

Flag of Gabon

We will focus first on the only country invited to the summit which was not part of West Africa, Gabon. With a population a little over 2.5 million inhabitants, one could wonder what American interests in this little country of Central Africa look like, if not oil? After all, it is no secret that for many years, Gabon was the cash cow of France because of its large oil reserves and strong connections with the defunct Elf leadership. Gabon is also rich in uranium and manganese, and has one of the world’s largest iron deposit. Gabon has significant iron ore reserves, particularly in the Belinga area, which is estimated to hold about one billion tons of iron ore. Additionally, the Baniaka Iron Ore Project has an estimated reserve of 758 million tons with a grade of 36.7% iron.

To the visible answers. A few months ago, the president of Gabon Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, a former military man who came to power via a coup d’etat and whom the Western media have never called Junta but instead often acclaimed (Gabon and the Double Standards of the International Community), unveiled several infrastructure deals including the Belinga–Boué–Mayumba railway (901 km), a new deep-water port, the Boué hydroelectric dam, and a push for local processing of mineral resources. Gabon is an important oil producer in the region and its government is pursuing large-scale projects including railways, ports, and energy infrastructures. There were also visits with Exxon Mobil and Boeing.

Map of Gabon

The not-so visible answers. Gabon is trying to diversify away from oil. Introducing the Iboga plant, which many believe to be the plant much talked about in the Black Panther movie. The Iboga plant from which ibogaine is extracted is a psychoactive plant central to the Bwiti spiritual traditions of Gabon. It is no secret that the West is currently facing an opioid crisis, and several pharmaceutical companies have already been using iboga on the low, without giving much rights to the country of Gabon. The Iboga primarily grows in Gabon, and the country is attempting to transform the plant into a regulated, economically, valuable, and internationally recognized medicinal resource. The government’s strategy is based on 3 pillars: regulate and control cultivation, partner with pharmaceutical companies and position Gabon as the global hub, as it rightfully is, for legal ibogaine production. This is similar to the how Morocco positioned itself as the world’s leading exporter of medical cannabis. The task is not small, given that these same Western firms have already been manufacturing (without openly labeling) drugs with it. Let us pray we do not have a repeat of what happened to teff, the national grain of Ethiopia – The Need for Countries to Protect What is Theirs : How a Dutch Patented the Ethiopian National Grain. This looks like a part of The New Scramble for Africa: The US does not want to let China and Russia supplant its influence in Africa. Moreover, everything needs to be built in Africa, so to anyone this should be like golden opportunity. Everyone wants a piece of Africa! And you… why do you think Gabon was invited to this summit?

The Web of Media Lies : Repression of the Press when it serves a Narrative

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Sekou Toure, Cover Time Magazine, Feb. 16, 1959

The western media have been pouring vitriol against African leaders who stand for justice, and equality for their people. In recent years, the web of lies they have woven against the leaders of the AES has been quite thick. However, it is nothing new: we just have to travel down memory lane to the days of Sekou Touré of Guinea, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Amilcar Cabral of Cabo Verde and Guinea Bissau, Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d’Ivoire, and more recently John Magufuli of Tanzania, or Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi, it is nothing new. In some countries, many of the independence leaders have seen their names and struggles erased from the history books, to be replaced by these lies.

In his book The Assassination of Lumumba, Ludo de Witte details on page 12,that in 1961, at the height of the Congolese crisis, the media of those days used the usual techniques:

The Assassination of Lumumba by Ludo De Witte

Faced with unconstitutional secessions which eroded the very foundations of the state, Lumumba’s government found itself forced to take measures against the press organs that openly sided with the coup leaders. The Belgian press took this as an opportunity to launch even harsher attacks on the Congolese government. From Leopoldville, Manu Ruys entitled an article: “Lumumba Restricts Press Freedom”. New blended imperceptibly into a call to arms againt the Congolese government: “Prime Minister Lumumba’s brutal condemnation of federalism [in fact secessions!] … We are in a police state where the future is no longer secure. “

Don’t these words sound familiar? Just a month ago, the German DW titled Sahel juntas are ‘crushing’ basic freedoms. In February, it was Humans Rights Watch which was saying that the Military Juntas continue their repression… Yet the same media are silent about the repression in other places with docile puppets. The examples are countless, and one thing is certain: History repeats itself! The question is… are we going to be awake or remain asleep while they lie about our leaders?

Mainstream Media does not Change over the Years : Lumumba’s Case

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Patrice Lumumba

The mainstream media’s portrayal of leaders who want true change has not changed over the years. The moment the leader wants to serve the will of its people, or change the country, or improve the conditions of his or her people, or even get a fair deal, he is treated the worse, called all sorts of name. In his days, once Patrice Lumumba gave his independence speech, and asked for the true freedom of the people of Congo, they pulled down the big guns, figuratively, and literally. Reading the headlines from then is like reading all the headlines today about the leaders of the AES Sahel, or countless others who fought for their people’s freedom. In his book “The Assassination of Lumumba,” Ludo de Witte, Verso (2001) detailed how the Belgian press dragged Lumumba. One example can be found on page 10.

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The press campaign against Lumumba’s government reached its most scurrilous in La Libre Belgique. An article on 19 July about Lumumba’s stay at Blair House, the official residence for foreign heads of state visiting the United States, reported: “At Blair House, an old lady looks after the guests. She is white. Let us hope nothing happens to her.” [as if Lumumba would stoop so low… I guess to these media, a Black man is a menace to a white lady… remember Emmett Till?] Marcel de Corte, a lecturer in moral philosophy, made a thinly veiled public appeal to end Lumumba’s life. In the 27 July editorial, he wrote: “Look at Lumumba. … He’s a barbarian. … Officers [Belgian officers on the Ndjili plain] cry with rage because a manly act from them would have delivered the planet from his bloody cheek.” Not without cause La Gauche commented on 4 March 1961: “The press probably did not treat Hitler with as much rage and virulence as they did Patrice Lumumba.”

History Repeats Itself : the Victim is Disarmed, while the Aggressor is Funded

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Patrice Lumumba

History repeats itself! After Patrice Lumumba’s 30 June 1960 Independence speech, the Congo Crisis started. The Belgians were not happy to leave their colony and thus funded Moïse Tshombe in the Katanga for the secession of Congo. This was at the height of the Cold War, and served as a proxy conflict between the East and the West or the Soviet Union and the United States and cronies. A little over a week later, on 9 July, Belgium deployed paratroopers, without the Congolese state’s permission, in Kabalo and elsewhere to protect fleeing white civilians. As the conflict persisted, Lumumba appealed to the United Nations, but he was told that all aid to the Congolese government would be going through the UN. Finding this out, his Deputy Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga declared:

“The people of the Congo do not understand why we, the victims of aggression, we who are in our own land . . . are systematically and methodically disarmed while the aggressors, the Belgians, who are in our conquered country, still have their arms and and all their firepower. . . . The UN forces allow Katanga to consolidate secession and let the Belgians behave as if they were in an occupied country under the smokescreen of a phoney Katanga provincial government that we, the legitimate government of the Congo, have declared illegal.” Antoine Gizenga, in CRISP, Congo 1960, p. 615

As you read these words uttered by Deputy Prime Minister Gizenga over 66 years, does it not read like the aggression that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been going through at the hands of the M23, proxy troops of Rwanda used to loot the Congolese resources? These words remind us of the conflict in Cote d’Ivoire with the Marcory treaties where the victims were disarmed while the aggressors were armed… and so many other conflicts in Africa: the victim wishing for his dependence is disarmed pushed into a corner, while the aggressor is funded by the West. All of this, under the watchful eyes of the UN, just as in 1960!

African Joke : The Camel

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A tourist in Egypt asks a guide, “Does your camel spit ?”

The guide responds, “Only when it is angry.”

The tourist then asks, “And when is it angry?”

The guide looks at him annoyingly, “When tourists ask too many questions.“

‘Congo Natal’ by Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard

On By Dr. Y.In Great Literature, Great PeopleLeave a comment
Map of the Congo Basin (Source: Wikipedia)

Today we will talk about the Congolese writer and poet Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard. To celebrate the ‘independence’ of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), we will focus on Loutard’s poem on Congo: Congo natal (Natal Congo). Even though Loutard is from the Republic of Congo or Congo-Brazzaville, one can tell that he is talking about the entire Congo basin. This poem is very lyrical, and deeply rooted in Congolese identity. It also shows his deep love of Congo and its landscape, joys, flora, fauna, people, and essence.  He starts by letting you know the effect of exile on his soul, far away from its country. Then he centers it around nature, but highlighting a world anchored on African ancestral maternal protective traditions.

Enjoy ‘Congo Natal‘ by Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard, published in his poetry collection La tradition du songe: Poèmes. Presence Africaine (1985). Translated to English by Dr. Y. Afrolegends.com.

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Congo Natal  

Je ne redoute rien tant que l’exil
Le regret de mon soleil versé sur les vagues
Comme l’huile qui s’exalte dans la poèle
Et chante le cantique du feu
Et ma mère trempée d’angoisses
Devant son foyer aux-trois-pierres
Combien de poètes portent à jamais
Le deuil des Tropiques dans les contrées du Nord
Les douleurs dans leurs écrits se disposent comme des noctuelles sur des étaloirs
Quand le climat déploie ses forces arides
L’oeil s’ouvre sur la grisaille et s’embue
Le coeur nidifie dans la pierre
Parfois la mémoire se déplie
Vient la clarté puis à nouveau le ciel s’embrume
Toi l’étrange cultivateur transmigrant
Quel espace as-tu fructifié
Depuis que la terre en toi s’est rétrécie
Que le fleuve Congo n’y est plus qu’un sillon
Je pense à mon horizon où lève l’épi de l’aube
Aux enfants qui s’éparpillent sur le miroir du jour
Aux passereaux en tumulte dans le rônier
A ce peuple missionné qui reprend feu
Quand passe le vent avec ses poissons-pilotes de feuilles mortes
Cherchant dans son trouble inapaisable
A jeter bas les masques du mensonge
A ceux qui ont déserté les ailes
D’une maison obscurcie par la mort
Le soleil survient qui replante ses lances dans la rue
J’observe les générations nouvelles qui ondulent
Et cette fille de l’espèce lianescente
Sort du terroir profond
Son visage a bruni au feu de santal
Elle passe comme une jacinthe dans les eaux errantes
Aveugle elle va briser son coeur sur l’écueil
L’asphalte lui ouvre ses mares ses mirages
Et je n’oublie pas la gloire des Jours d’Août
Sanglés dans leur tunique couleur de sang
Et l’héritage exhalant encore le parfum du frangipanier.  		Natal Congo  

I dread nothing so much as exile,
The longing for my sun spilled upon the waves
Like oil rising in the pan
Singing the hymn of the fire,
And my mother, steeped in anguish
Before her three-stone hearth.
How many poets forever mourn
The Tropics while in northern lands?
The sorrows in their writings are arrayed
Like owlet moths upon a display board.
When the climate unleashes its arid forces
The eye opens upon the grayness and clouds over
The heart makes its nest in the stone
Sometimes memory unfolds
Clarity comes, then the sky grows hazy once more
You, strange transmigrating cultivator
What space have you made fruitful
Since the earth within you shrank
Since the Congo River became but a furrow there?
I think of my horizon where the stalk of dawn rises
Of the children scattering across the mirror of the day
Of the sparrows clamoring in the Palmyra palm
Of that missioned people catching fire again
As the wind passes, with its pilot-fish of dead leaves,
Seeking, in its unappeasable turbulence,
To tear the masks of falsehood from the faces
Of those who abandoned the wings
Of a house darkened by death,
The sun arrives to plant its spears once more in the street;
I watch the new generations undulating,
And this daughter of the vine-like breed
Emerges from the deep soil;
Her face has turned brown in the sandalwood fire,
She passes like a hyacinth through wandering waters;
Blind, she will shatter her heart against the reef,
The asphalt opens up its pools and mirages to her,
And I do not forget the glory of the August Days,
Girt in their blood-colored tunics,
Nor the legacy that still exhales the scent of frangipani.  

Another Attack on Niger International Airport Last Week

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Map of Niger

Last Thursday, there was another attack on Niger’s main airport, the Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey. In the early hours of the morning, inhabitants of the capital Niamey heard gunshots. This new wave of attacks by gunmen is said to have killed 11 soldiers and 2 civilians on the government side, while government forces repelled the attack and killed 22 assailants. According to the government statement read out on state television, 20 people were arrested and assorted weapons seized. A large cache of weapons including RPG-7 launchers, AK-47 rifles, explosives, grenades, communications equipment and thousands of rounds of ammunition were also reportedly seized. The assailants also mixed in with the local population to run from the government, but were caught by local residents who joined forces with soldiers to unearth them. And of course, foreign media were rejoicing and could not wait to tell us all about it. Let’s keep our countries in our heart all the time and remain strong! The enemy lurks, but we stay alert! We will never give up!

Excerpts below are from GBC Ghana Online.

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Flag of Niger

Gunmen launched a violent assault on the Diori Hamani International Airport, which serves the capital city of Niamey, Niger, in the early hours of Thursday, June 18, 2026. The attack shattered the morning calm with sustained gunfire and multiple explosions, prompting an urgent mobilization of national security forces. The incident began at approximately 6:00 a.m. local time (05:00 GMT), leading to a security standoff that lasted for nearly an hour, with intense fighting concentrated near the airport’s main gate. One local resident described the scene, noting, “I heard the first gunshots at 06:00 (05:00 local time) while I was at the mosque. But the current situation is under control.”

Government security forces acted with speed to repel the assailants after the facility’s perimeter was breached. By mid-morning, soldiers were conducting rigorous security checks on travelers and civilians along the roads surrounding the airport. While government authorities have yet to issue a formal statement, security sources confirmed that the army successfully neutralized the immediate threat and pushed back the gunmen. Reports indicate the fleeing attackers abandoned several weapons at the scene. These ongoing security challenges persist despite recent government measures to bolster defenses, which included the demolition of adjacent neighborhoods identified as “terrorist risks” and the installation of over 350 surveillance cameras to monitor the facility.

…

Niger Leads the Way and Leaves the ICP

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The International Criminal Court in the Hague (Source: inews.co.uk)

At last, another African country leaves that racist and prejudicial institution that is the International Criminal Court of Justice. It is no secret that the ICC only indicts mostly African leaders: Joseph Kony of Uganda, Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé of Côte d’Ivoire, Charles Taylor of Liberia, Jean-Pierre Bemba of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto of Kenya, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, and the list goes on. Out of the 17 situations currently under investigations by the ICC, 10 of them are on African countries. Since the ICC’s creation in 1998 up until around 2021, 100% of people indicted by the ICC were Africans, while today 60 – 75% of those indicted are Africans. In view of this, it would seem as if there is only one continent on planet earth: Africa! and the ICC only sees crime in Africa! The ICC has an African bias! I am not saying that some of these people do not deserve to be judged, but when we compare to leaders around the world who have committed major atrocities or authorized horrendous things, why are they not at the ICC too? Why the bias?

Flag of Niger

Today, Niger is the third country to leave the ICC joining the Philippines and Burundi. It is about time! Niger has accused the ICC of selective justice. In a letter submitted on Monday to the United Nations, another organization which only serves the West, Niger’s authorities said “While the court had raised great hopes among peoples who cherish peace and justice, it has been misused and exploited.” We, Africans, should leave all these institutions that devalue us, and serve those who continue looting our continent with impunity. Shouldn’t we strengthen our own judiciary systems to handle our very own matters? Why should we let some people located thousands of kilometers in some of the countries that are often bombing us like in the case of Libya, judge our leaders? How fair could they possibly be?

Excerpts below are from Yahoo.News

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Niger has officially submitted its request to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), nine months after announcing its intent to leave.

President Abdourahamane Tiani of Niger

In September 2025, Niger, along with allies Mali and Burkina Faso – which are all under military rule – issued a joint statement saying they would not recognise the ICC’s authority, calling it an “instrument of neo-colonialist repression“.

The court said it had received an “instrument of withdrawal” on 18 June, according to a statement seen by the AFP news agency. Withdrawal takes effect one year after notification. The ICC added that Niger must honour its obligations to the court until that date. The ICC – based in The Hague in the Netherlands – was set up in 2002 to pursue cases of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression.

The court’s statement on Tuesday did not make any mention of Mali or Burkina Faso.

When announcing their withdrawal, the three Sahel states said they wanted to set up “indigenous mechanisms for the consolidation of peace and justice“.

…

The 2026 FIFA World Cup so far : Joys and Pains – Visa Issues

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FIFA World Cup 2026 Emblem (FIFA Official logo FIFA.com)

The 2026 FIFA World Cup started last week and we have felt the joy of it… At this year’s World Cup, there are a record 48 teams, as opposed to the past 32, and 10 countries representing the continent, an increase from the past 5. The 10 countries representing Africa at the World Cup are: Algeria (The Fennecs), Cape Verde (The Blue Sharks), DR Congo (The Leopards), Ghana (The Black Stars), Egypt (The Pharaohs), Ivory Coast (The Elephants), Morocco (The Atlas Lions), Senegal (The Lions of Teranga), South Africa (Bafana Bafana), and Tunisia (The Eagles of Carthage). All teams have played their first games, and so far Cape Verde has wowed the public with a draw against the mighty Spain (0 – 0), Morocco has also pulled a draw against Brazil (1 – 1), Egypt against Belgium (1 – 1), DR Congo returning 52 years after being the first African nation at a World Cup also pulled a draw against Portugal of Cristiano Ronaldo (1 – 1); Ivory Coast won their first game against Ecuador (1 – 0), while Ghana defeated Panama (1 – 0); South Africa lost against Mexico during the opening game (2 – 0), Senegal lost against the vice-champion France (3 – 1), Algeria against champion Argentina (3 – 0), and Tunisia against Sweden (5 – 1). There are still 2 games to make it to the qualifying rounds, and we pray that African teams make us proud.

Flag of Cape Verde
Flag of Cape Verde

At this World Cup, we have also felt the pains of it. Yes, there is pain! The tickets are extremely expensive, it is said that they are at least 7 times higher than tickets were at the World Cup in Qatar 4 years ago. Then there are the visa issues which we hear about now. For many Africans there is a $15,000 deposit fee for a tourist/business visa! Can you imagine? Who has $15,000 laying around? And what is the procedure for one to recover that money upon returning home? From my experience with anything, once people take your money, there is always a delay in refunding money which may take days: is it the case here? The US government imposed a visa bond fee on 50 countries said to have high overstays… guess how many of those 50 countries are in Africa?  33 African countries! Thus, we have seen the superb Cape Verdean goalkeeper Vozinha in tears at the end of his game since his mother could not get a visa to watch him play for lack of money; this has since been remedied as US representative Hakeem Jeffries (who has some Cape-Verdean heritage) called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio and now Vozinha‘s mother will be able to watch her son play.

This brings us back to articles we wrote a few years back about the fact that African passports in general are weak passports even within Africa, meaning that an American or a German could visit almost 172 countries out of the world’s 192 without needing a visa while most Africans have to pay for visa to visit almost every single country on earth, and there is no guarantee to obtaining the visa. The Power of the Passport: Discrimination against Third-World Countries? Tourism in Africa: The Difficulty for Africans to obtain Visas in Africa to Visit African Countries

In view of this, my question is to us Africans, why don’t we apply reciprocity? Why do we have to be humiliated paying hefty fees, while the others can just waltz in our countries? and call us persona non grata in their countries while they make billions in ours? Do you remember how last October, Mali got the US to scrap the visa bond when they reciprocated with a similar visa bond for US citizens? “This is not about confrontation; it’s about respect,” a senior Malian foreign affairs official stated “If a Malian citizen must pay a bond to visit the U.S., then so must an American to visit Mali. Reciprocity is a cornerstone of equal partnership.” Indeed, this is the era of equal partnership, and dignity. We can no longer be humiliated to no end. Such an approach should not just applied to visa bond, but to the visa process and applications as a whole! and further to resources and negotiations!