 Hi, my name is Sandy Baird and I am a citizen activist and also an attorney in Burlington with my colleague Eric Añero, who is also involved in the legal profession and being a citizen journalist, and he's here today to report to us on Africa in 2024. Mr. Añero is from the Ivory Coast. He recently visited there and kind of took the temperature there, particularly because there are elections occurring there this year, is that correct? Yes. And so he's here to report on what he sees in these elections and also the mood that's rising in Africa. Okay, so what's going on? But you are from Ivory Coast. Yeah, thank you. Okay, could you point out where Ivory Coast is? Ivory Coast is West Africa, next to Ghana. Right here, correct. So you have Ivory Coast here, Ghana and Liberia bordering the ocean front, Liberia here, Ghana here, and then Mali. Ivory Coast has been for a long time, it still is jewel of the French Empire and past colonial empire in Africa. Ivory Coast is really the epitome of what a country could be when it serves the interests of the West, particularly that of a former colonial power. So I was recently... A former colonial power that is France. That's France. I was recently in Ivory Coast. That's where you're from? Yeah, a gloomy atmosphere. People are very, like, the country is going from, he's being praised by the West as a growing economy, but when you go in Ivory Coast, you see that the population don't get anything from nothing, nothing at all. It's all going back to the major corporations, the international corporations that are investing in the country because the international monetary fund, the World Trade Organization, and the Western powers force those countries to open the economies to this big, this major corporation. Most of them have tax exemption for 10, 5, 10 years. But they are corporations not owned by people from the Ivory Coast? Not at all. If you go really deep into the ownership of these businesses over there, you want, like, probably 90% of the corporations are either subsidies, I mean local representations of bigger corporations, American corporations, French corporations and... British? But mostly French. Because that was their history? That was their history. So you have in Ivory Coast what is going on in Africa, which is, you know, a continent that is seen as a beacon of growth, of economic growth, but in return, the population don't get anything from that. So you have crime that is rising, but you are also some kind of, you know, it's a mess. You have urbanism, 50% of the population in Africa, even more. In all of Africa. In all of Africa, live now in cities that have no logic in terms of urbanism. Why? Because, you know, the leaders are not doing anything. They're kind of reacting on a day-to-day basis more as serving as agent of foreign corporations and foreign governments than planning their development. And then they have the pressure from the IMF and the World Bank. IMF, what is it? International Monetary Fund, because most of these countries are plagued with debt. They have to pay back their debts. So they are forced to privatize most of the economies. So you see a country like Ivory Coast, all the strategic, you know, sectors of the economy are in the hands of private sector, and not even local private sector, international. Do they own the land also in the countryside? I've been trying for 20 years to get the title of a land that I've inherited from my family. I haven't gotten the paper yet. So you have an administration that doesn't work. Corruption is plaguing the country. Ivory Coast right now is, you know, facing massive scandals of corruption. But yet, yet, France, the U.S., British and all these European countries are continuing to praise the local government because they provide cacao, they provide gold, chocolate, they provide, you know, all the resources to the West. Especially amid fierce competition from the Chinese and the Russians. But the Chinese and the Russians don't own the corporations, correct? Yeah, I mean, you have, like, it's not a secret. You have Wagner that does business, military. You know, the Russians and the Chinese are in major, you know, infrastructure, I mean, Chinese are in infrastructure building. But with the Chinese, let's say, and then the Russian, it's more of, yes, we sit down around the table and then we can discuss business. But they have the feeling, and then the new generation have the feeling that with the West, it's still a colonial mentality. I mean, it's still, you know, a domination, you know, from the West rather than real business. I don't know if most Americans are educated terribly about Africa or even much more of the world in general. I remember though taking a class at the University of Massachusetts in which the professor said that between 1878 prior to World War I and 1914 in the beginning, all of Africa was colonized by the West or by what we now see as the NATO powers. All of Africa except Ethiopia. Except Ethiopia. And that was when this colonization of Western white countries controlling the economy, the land, the police of Africa and probably Asia and Latin America as well. But I want to concentrate on Africa. So that was correct. Yeah, for all these years and then in the 60s. Wave of independence. Wave of independence, mostly, you know, independence is that way granted rather than fought for. Not in Algeria. Not in Algeria, but most of the countries and, you know, the other sub-Saharan Africa countries were given the independence. But not their economic independence. Not the economic independence. And that was still controlled. Even political independence. Right. Because, you know, the president that is in the Ivory Coast right now is going maybe to go for a fourth mandate when the Constitution's just give you the right to have only two mandates. Okay, so now let's get into these elections. Yes. So Ivory Coast has an election? Not Ivory Coast, but a major election would be that of Senegal. Senegal. I can't see where that is. Senegal was also during the colonial era. Senegal is here. Senegal during the French-speaking you have next to Mauritania and Gambia and bordering Bamako, I mean bordering Mali. Senegal was the capital of the Dakar. Dakar and Senegal were, you know, were the center of the West African part of the French Empire. So Senegal is very much like the second capital was for a long time second capital of the French in, I mean when it comes to Africa. First thing, Ibiza. Yeah. Senegal has for a long time been a beacon of democracy, you know, trying to, they've been known for a peaceful transition of power even though it's still, you know, governed by lackeys of the Western world. But, you know, Senegal has had a long tradition of peaceful transfer to power. And then with the contraction due to the aggressiveness of, I mean, the presence of the Chinese and the reaction of the Western world that is competing against the Chinese and the Russian, you know, those countries like Senegal has moved as transition to autocratic government. Senegal has. Yeah. Because you have the Russian and the Chinese, but also you have a new generation of Africans that don't want to be just, you know, a citizen of countries that are, you know, under the rules of other countries. They dream about independence. Most of them have been in school in Western countries. A lot of them are contributing to the global debate when it comes to governance, when it comes to science. So it's hard for them. It's painful for them to still be, you know, a subhuman. I mean, considered a second-class citizen in the global world. So those younger Africans are pushing for more democracy, for better governance, and they are somehow, you know, more, you know, let's say they're getting closer to Russian China because they're seeing Russian China as also, you know, example of defiance against the West. That's what you noticed when you were in Ivory Coast. Yes. So the governments that are faithful to the Western world. And are they? Oh, yeah. Because if they're not, the West will lose. So they can't. I mean, the West will lose. The West will lose. The Germany. The Germany in Africa. So the West is counting on those, you know, presidents and leaders like Makisal in Senegal, Alassan Watara in Ivory Coast. And those that were toppled down by the Yuntas in Mali and Bukinafa that were also, you know, some kind of a servant, that's how they call them, of the West. So the West is now closing their eyes on, I mean, they condoning, you know, these leaders that are transitioning to become like more of dictators and to face a push from the younger generation and the opposition parties. So Senegal is... Is there an election? Yeah, there's an election in Senegal. And Makisal and the government in power in Senegal has managed to bear, you know, one of the leading opposition leaders by imprisoning him. So he cannot be, you know, part of the election. So is Senegal going to, because there were a lot of violence recently prior to the election, I don't know if the supporters of those new leaders that are being prevented from participating in the election will accept that. Would that be, you know, chaos? Senegal will give the tone to what will happen to the French past colonial and power. If Senegal falls into the hands of that new generation of leaders that are defiant vis-à-vis the West, then the West can then maybe react by financing rebellions and opposition parties and it could be a chaos because there's so much... In other words, would the West accept a defiant? They won't accept because there's always the menace of China and Russia. So the West is scared if maybe those leaders that we control are no longer there, the new young... I mean, and then we saw it. So you have the election in Senegal that will be very, you know, it's very soon. It's like in February, I think. And then you are also... What's going on in Mali and Burkina Faso? What is going on? Mali and Burkina Faso are... French speaking. Well, Senegal too. Mali and Burkina Faso got rid of the French. They don't want the French... Recently. Recently. Right. So you have two countries that are now led by Yunta, Guinea also, but will it be contagious? Because more and more countries are facing those turmoil and this boiling, you know, general opinion that wants a change. So Mali and Burkina Faso, depending on how they will do without France and without the Western world and with the help of Russia and China. Okay. So these countries that you're talking about have kind of ditched the Western world in a lot of ways. Yes, somehow, yeah. They've adopted... A more productive or like a more partnership, I mean, a more active partnership with China and Russia, especially Russia. Why? Because Russia is helping them. Russia is not a former colony, I mean colonizer. Right. So Russia is not there with post-colonial mentality, post-colonial agenda. They're there probably to do business like everybody, to maybe take profit. Make profit. Make profit. But with Russia, we don't talk as, you know, former colonizer and former colonized, you know, citizen. Russia didn't do the slave trade. Yeah. So Russia is helping also Mali and Burkina Faso deal with the so-called terrorism. But that seems to be another problem. So you're talking about elections. What are the main issues? How pro-Western a government is or a person is? What is happening actually? And would the United States tolerate the result of an election which gave sort of a thumbs? I mean, the United States, I think... I mean, the U.S. doesn't have no more teeth in Africa. Why? Because there's so many different players. I mean, you know, the actors like France, I mean China, Russia. So... And then the Africans are becoming more assertive. Washington, what can Washington do? Okay, we don't give you money. We don't give you military aid. That China and Russia can provide. So the U.S. will have at some point no choice but to get down from the pedestal and start talking to those folks like mano a mano, like equal, maybe not totally equal, but at least let's do business. And then we can do better than the Russia. That's what they have to do. And for example, if you see South Africa, South Africa is growing defiant. South Africa is taking Israel to an international court. If you can get it there, yes, I know. I'm shocked. Yes, I know that Israel is committing genocide. South Africa is alleging. The interesting thing to me about South Africa is that they're also kind of the head of BRICS. Yes. Which is an alternate economic power challenging the hegemony of U.S. capitalism, really, in Africa, correct? They're not socialists. They're not socialists. No, they're not. It's interesting because the problem with our opinion here in the West is that when a country in Africa or in the black and brown world is not following the U.S. or France, then they're tagged as anti or pro-Russia. Mandela, Nelson Mandela, who was the first black president of South Africa, told a report in the U.S. not because you guys have a problem with Cuba or Russia that we necessarily have to follow you. Right. We're not necessarily pro-Russia or pro-Cuba. We are friends with them as much as we want to be friends with the U.S. in the West. But if you are against Russia, it's not our problem. Yeah. We do business with Russia, so you cannot force us and then South Africa showed it. Most of the countries didn't follow the U.S. and the Western world in the war against, I mean, in the war in Ukraine. Right, why? You know, I mean. Okay, so that was one of the times when your opinion shocked me and caused me to change my thinking, is that when you came back once from the Ivory Coast and pointed out that all over Ivory Coast there are Putin signs. Oh, yeah. Why? It's a matter of pride. You know, Putin, for most of the Africans, is courageous enough to stand against the West. The West. Because in the mentalities, in the people's mind that the West has always been seen as an oppressive block. Not as liberating. Not as liberating. They were pro, I mean, they conducted slave trade, colonization. And for a long time they've been using Africa as their playground for militarism. As their, I mean, as, you know, they, you know, a well of, you know, resources that they were able to tap into with no restraint. Now these countries want to be free. And they want to, so for most of the Africans, the West is not as no credibility to tell them who to go against or, and then I also talk to many people, the current, you know, situation in Middle East is eroding, is eroding the, you know, the, you know, the sympathy for the West. Most of them don't want to be caught in the middle of, you know, a conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. But, you know, the way it has developed with, you know, all these military campaigns in Palestine, you know, is eroding the support for the Western world as that they are seeing to be giving a blank check. That's why South Africa is rising to take Israel, which is a very significant move, Israel to... I don't think Americans know how significant it is, but let me go back. So BRICS is Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. But they've recently been joined by a lot of other countries as well. But BRICS is like not an alliance. It's the ultimate economic capitalist power that's rising in the world. And you're right, South Africa being in that sort of breaks, doesn't break its ties with the West, but it clearly means that the South African economy is going to be at least helped by those other BRICS countries, correct? Yeah, and then it's interesting that Africans are not seeing, you know, actions as breaking the ties or not. They're seeing that we have... Just increasing their ties. We are sovereign. We want to do business with everybody. So now it's time for the West to accept that and then say, okay, maybe it's time for no more militarism and business with everybody in good faith and good friendship. Well, I don't think the Africans want militarism, period. No, they don't. Nobody does. But at least they want also to increase the military power to be able to resist against what they call agent of destabilization used by the West. For most Africans, the terrorists are good friends, good buddies with the West. Really? And then also are the result of the adventures that the West got into in Libya, that have destabilized the whole continent. So they want to get more military independence. But when they are under the umbrella of the former colonial power, the colonial powers like to come as the gendarme, as the cops, rather than giving the means to the Africans to fight those terrorists. Terrorism and all these menaces. But there's also a big menace that will hit Africa, which is climate change. I mean, I'm not getting into the debate of what is, but it's more that the effects of climate change are being seen already in Africa. And Africa will pay a large price because most of its economy is agricultural, mining, and so. And then I was in Abidjan. Ivory Coast has lost 95% of its original forests. 95? 95, if not more, to cash crops. Because for a long time... That's not climate change. Yeah, I mean, that's not climate change, but if you lose 95% of your forests, that affects climate. And that affects even your microclimate, before even it affects... Listen, I was driving on the streets of Abidjan. Wherever I go and then there are trees, it's fresh. When I get to a part of the countries where there's no trees, it's hot and unbearable. And then the rising of the sea level, there's a lot of menaces that are going to hit Africa. And then so we have to see Africa will grow more defiant, not defiant but assertive, vis-à-vis the West. The West doesn't have the power anymore. Why not? European economies are plunging because there's no more room for growth. There's less and less countries to exploit. China is no longer that big... Or Russia. Or Russia. China is no longer this big factory where you go and then you make your manufactured goods and then China also is a dominant power. So China might be even buying part of Europe. Or the United States. The United States. African countries are growing rebellious and defiant. So where does the Europeans who are addicted to capitalism will get cheap labor, cheap resources to make profits? There's no room for Europe to grow. The European demography is declining. Or at least there's no more youth. There's more old people. It's an older population. That's true here. For example, Angola. Angola, which is a former colony from Portugal, is almost ruling Portugal today. I'm not saying that Angola has taken over Portugal but most of the investments in Portugal, a lot of investments in Portugal come from Angola. Angolans and businessmen from Angola and corporates from Angola are taking over chunks of Portugal's economy. So Europe has to sit down with Africans and redefine their relationship, friendship rather than domination. So this is what we're going to see in 2024. In the other elections, like in Rwanda, we'll see a guy who's been there for almost 30 years now since the genocide. He's changed the constitution to be able to run until 2034, I don't know. You have also in Tunisia, a guy who was coming with all the hopes of bringing more democracies, turning to be an autocrat. And then we'll see. And then also depending on who is going to be elected in the U.S. We know who's going to be elected. We don't know yet. No, but things look creepy, a little. But it's interesting how much a lot of Africans over there would like to deal with a government in the U.S. because they know maybe it's not very friendly with them, but they know where they stand with that power rather than a government that pretends to be a democrat, to be holding the values of democracy dearly, and that are involved in wars around the world. Especially wars in the Third World. And then there's also a lot of conflicts that are going under the radar, like in Sudan, a lot of conflicts in Africa that are kind of forgotten. And simmering. Yes, but we'll see. Okay. Yeah, we'll see. I think we're almost out of time, but thank you. Oh, my pleasure, Sandy. And we will be back. We'll be back. In about a month, thank you. Yeah, and then we'll follow this election in Senegal and see how you know. Not only in Senegal. But in all these countries. And in the U.S. In the U.S.? Yeah, it's interesting. Across the Atlantic Ocean. I mean, from each side of the Atlantic Ocean, two major democracies are going to have elections. And we'll see. And then if the elections go on, if the elections go well, because there's also some worries about how the election will turn here, if the U.S. can no longer be an example of clean and proper elections, the rest of the world can go into chaos. One of our major candidates might be in jail. Oh, the rest of the world could be in jail, too. In jail, too. All right. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. See you tomorrow.