Tag: Jean-Bedel Bokassa

Mali Recovers over a Billion $ for its Miners

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

Imagine being able to recover money from multinationals? Imagine putting the well-being of your people so much at the forefront that you are not afraid of uncovering or exposing corruption or injustice, and of taking on major world multinationals! This is what the Malian government has just done, and as a result has uncovered a billion dollar in arrears! Remember how Pascal Lissouba, the former president of the Republic of Congo, admitted that the Congolese government had no idea how much oil Elf (now Total Energies) was pumping out of its soil, and that they were at the mercy of whatever the company wanted to pay them, which was pennies; when he tried to renegotiate contracts or find better partners, he was deposed by Denis Sassou Nguesso, the Western puppet. Remember Jean Bedel Bokassa of the Central African Republic who admitted that he had no visibility on the amount of diamonds or uranium that French and Swiss companies were extracting from his country. Now, imagine being in your sovereign state, i.e. no Western puppet at your helm, the well-being of your people at the forefront?

AES Logo

Mali (and the other countries of the AES) has been working tirelessly on nationalizing their resources, and renegotiating correctly contracts with multinationals that are extracting their resources. Thus, such an exercise is fruitful in the sense that now, they can audit accounts, and compensate or fight for better compensation for their people better. Today, it was announced that Mali has recovered over a billion dollar in arrears from mining companies! Isn’t this a beautiful Christmas /end of year present? This also makes us pray further for the safety of such governments who place the restoration of their people’s dignity and well-being at the forefront of their efforts. Now, more than ever, they will be the target of the foreign corporations and bandits! Now, more than ever, they need each of us to stand in solidarity with them!

Excerpts below are from Africanews.

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Mali has recovered more than a billion dollars in arrears from mining companies after a sweeping audit, its finance minister, Alousséni Sanou, said on Tuesday.

It’s one of the country’s biggest ever clawbacks from its lucrative mining sector.

The military-led government launched an audit of the sector in early 2023 and uncovered massive shortfalls for the state. That paved the way for a new mining code that raises royalties, boosts the state’s ownership in mining companies and scraps stability clauses.

A recovery commission was set up after an audit flagged financial irregularities and shortfalls for the state estimated at between half a billion and a billion dollars.

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Central African Republic (CAR) adopts Bitcoin as a National Currency

On By Dr. Y.In Great Economy3 Comments

Central African Republic (CAR) flag

An African country, the Central African Republic (CAR), becomes the second country in the world, after El Salvador, to adopt Bitcoin as a national currency. As its name says it, CAR is a country in Central Africa. The country of the late Jean-Bedel Bokassa is rich in diamonds, gold, uranium, and other precious minerals; yet it is one of the poorest countries in the world (when you have the FCFA as a currency, can it be any different?).

On Wednesday, a bill to adopt Bitcoin as the country’s legal tender was passed unanimously by the parliament. The office of CAR president, Faustin-Archange Touadera, claimed the move would “improve the conditions of Central African citizens” and distinguish CAR as “of the world’s boldest and most visionary countries.” I couldn’t have said it any better… it is about time to get rid of the FCFA [The 11 Components of the French Colonial Tax in Africa] anyways, why not do it in style? Excerpts below are from the BBC.

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Bitcoin (Source: IBTimes)

The Central African Republic (CAR) has approved Bitcoin as legal tender – just the second country to do so.

CAR is one of the world’s poorest countries, but is rich in diamonds, gold and uranium. It has been wracked by conflict for decades and is a close Russian ally, with mercenaries from the Wagner Group helping fight rebel forces. Lawmakers voted unanimously to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, said a statement from the CAR presidency. The move puts CAR “on the map of the world’s boldest and most visionary countries“, it said.

… Others have raised fears that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin could make it easier for criminals to launder money, and that they are environmentally damaging because they use so much electricity to generate [as if exploiting uranium was eco-friendly! could they possibly be happy when the golden hen is going away?]. The internet is needed to use any cryptocurrency but in 2019, just 4% of people in CAR had access to the web, according to the WorldData website.

Map of Central African Republic

The country currently uses the French-backed CFA franc as its currency, along with most other former French colonies in Africa. Some see the adoption of Bitcoin as an attempt to undermine the CFA, amid a contest for influence over the resource-rich country between Russia and France. “The context, given the systemic corruption and a Russian partner facing international sanctions, does encourage suspicion,” French analyst Thierry Vircoulon told the AFP news agency [of course, France will be suspicious of former slave colonies finding friendship elsewhere].

In the capital, Bangui, the response was mixed. Economist Yann Daworo told BBC Afrique it would make life easier, as transactions can be made with smartphones and it was easy to convert Bitcoin to any other currency. “Businessmen will no longer have to walk around with suitcases of CFA francs that will have to be converted into dollars or any other currency to make purchases abroad,” he said.

Diamonds

He also argued that the CFA was not being used “to benefit Africa” [preach cousin]. There are growing calls in several countries for the currency to be dropped by those who see it as a relic of the colonial era, enabling France to continue to exercise economic control.

However, computer scientist Sydney Tickaya said he thought the adoption of the cryptocurrency was “premature” and “irresponsible“. “Internet access is still underdeveloped in the country while Bitcoin depends entirely on the internet,” he said, adding that the CAR had more pressing issues such as security, education and access to drinking water [sure… but after over 100 years of dealing with France and the FCFA, and not even getting simple roads or education or water, while your diamonds are exploited without you getting a dime, isn’t it time to try something different? when will it be mature enough, or responsible enough to take a leap?] .

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