TRIGGERnometry - Africa is NOT Poor Because of Colonialism： Here’s Why. - Magatte Wade

00:00:00.720 Is Africa poor because of colonialism?

00:00:03.460 Resounding no.

00:00:04.760 The solution to poverty is prosperity.

00:00:06.680 Then who and how do we build prosperity?

00:00:09.520 It's entrepreneurs, right?

00:00:11.080 I always have two companies, one in Africa and one in the US.

00:00:14.840 And to see that one almost took two years, the other one barely 20 minutes to put together.

00:00:20.600 Why is it so over-regulated, though?

00:00:22.440 Because once upon a time, we drank the fateful, ill-advised, dreadful, deadly ideology of socialism.

00:00:34.540 We know you've been waiting.

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00:01:06.060 Magat, great to have you on the show.

00:01:07.820 Thanks for having me, both of you.

00:01:09.120 One of the questions that has been suggested to us to ask,

00:01:12.160 because we obviously ask our fans, etc., what we should talk about, is colonialism and Africa.

00:01:17.540 This is something you talk about a lot.

00:01:19.340 Is Africa poor because of colonialism?

00:01:21.920 Resounding, no.

00:01:23.500 It's not.

00:01:25.240 I mean, think about it.

00:01:28.620 People like, you know, when you line up, you could line up a hundred people.

00:01:32.600 African, non-African, doesn't matter. 1.00

00:01:34.120 And you start asking questions.

00:01:36.120 And you might probably get a hundred different answers.

00:01:38.880 But you can pretty much categorize, I told you, English is only from my fourth language.

00:01:44.980 Some of these words, I don't know how to pronounce.

00:01:46.680 You can put it into categories, let's say that.

00:01:48.360 And some people, anywhere, so the people who are, some people will be like on the IQ thing, lazy thing.

00:01:56.780 You know, that whole racist trend of why Africans are where they are today.

00:02:00.260 And then you have, exactly.

00:02:01.700 And then you have.

00:02:02.460 You sounded like you've done a lot of research.

00:02:04.160 And so on the other end, you have Africans and their allies, so-called allies. 0.96

00:02:14.060 And for them, it's all various forms of victimhood.

00:02:17.660 You know, anywhere from, it's because of racism.

00:02:20.800 It's because, you know, we've been colonized.

00:02:23.260 It's because they're stealing our natural resources.

00:02:25.280 You hear all of that.

00:02:26.640 Yet, I don't hear anyone talking about what's the reason why we're still poor.

00:02:30.640 And so, what do I mean by that?

00:02:34.140 Think about it.

00:02:35.440 We are talking about poverty.

00:02:36.600 You asked me the question, is Africa poor today because of colonialism?

00:02:40.820 You said poverty.

00:02:41.580 You didn't say anything else.

00:02:42.620 Poverty.

00:02:43.800 What's the solution to poverty?

00:02:46.100 Isn't it prosperity?

00:02:47.640 It's not poverty alleviation. 0.99

00:02:49.500 Like this idea that I should just be happy being a little bit less poor, but it's pathetic. 0.80

00:02:53.440 So, the solution to poverty is prosperity. 0.92

00:02:55.720 Then who and how do we build prosperity?

00:02:59.140 It's entrepreneurs, right?

00:03:00.220 Traditionally.

00:03:01.260 Any nation that you look at, it's entrepreneurs that did it.

00:03:05.020 Well, what do entrepreneurs need in order to thrive?

00:03:08.640 They need an enabling business environment.

00:03:12.940 And we find that actually countries that offer their citizens a world-class business environment are rich.

00:03:21.000 Conversely, those who offer a pretty bad, poor business environment don't thrive.

00:03:26.700 You're talking about corruption.

00:03:28.160 Well, no, not exactly corruption.

00:03:29.800 It's a pile of different things.

00:03:31.700 So, I could walk you into all of this.

00:03:33.020 For example, take my country, Senegal.

00:03:36.120 You know, when I started my first company back in 2003.

00:03:39.960 So, at that point, when you wanted to start a company, you know, you have to register the business, first of all.

00:03:45.500 How long would it take back in the days?

00:03:46.880 It takes almost two years to register the business legally.

00:03:49.760 And you look at that and you thought about the sister company.

00:03:53.420 Because I always have two companies, one in Africa and one in the U.S., they're sister companies.

00:03:58.460 And to see that one almost took two years, the other one barely 20 minutes to put together.

00:04:03.840 In this instance, you're married to your employees for good or for bad.

00:04:07.500 Over here, employment at will.

00:04:10.060 And so on and so forth.

00:04:11.340 It's about everything like that.

00:04:13.160 Everything.

00:04:14.060 If I want to hire you, if I want to hire you, if I want to hire you, Francis, the deal is simple.

00:04:22.100 I show up, we write a contract, done.

00:04:24.820 You put it in your drawers, I put it in my drawers, we're done.

00:04:28.080 But in Senegal, I want to hire Constantin.

00:04:30.580 We're over there talking to each other.

00:04:32.420 I have to get a contract in three examples.

00:04:36.460 Take myself, physically, to a government office called Inspection du Travail.

00:04:42.940 Where there, we meet with a government official who doesn't know the first thing about my business. 0.98

00:04:48.520 Probably never ran a business in his whole darn life. 0.74

00:04:50.940 Probably maybe never was in the private sector. 0.98

00:04:54.060 Has no idea what we're doing.

00:04:55.400 Doesn't even know where we are.

00:04:56.700 But this person gets to decide if Constantin and I get to work together or not.

00:05:01.700 And he says, well, where is his health certificate showing me that he is apt to do the job?

00:05:11.600 See, this type of nonsense.

00:05:12.720 When you put all of this together, that's what the economists call economic freedom.

00:05:16.440 And that's also what we call the business environment.

00:05:20.040 Technically, how free or not are you to enterprise?

00:05:24.120 How free or not are you to run the business?

00:05:27.420 And so when you realize that Africa is the region in the world that's the most over-regulated region in the world, that's the one that offers its entrepreneurs the least freedom to enterprise, then you understand why we're poor. 0.95

00:05:40.780 Poverty is solved by prosperity, prosperity built by entrepreneurs.

00:05:45.160 Entrepreneurs need a business class, business environment.

00:05:47.960 It happens to be that in Africa, they have the worst business environment in the world. 0.99

00:05:51.060 You haven't looked there and you want to sit there and scream about all of these so-called reasons as to why we're supposedly poor.

00:05:59.460 Give me a break.

00:06:00.540 Give me a break.

00:06:01.520 So this is what we have found and that's what we need to work on.

00:06:03.940 And no one is working on it because there's 100 people I told you about.

00:06:06.420 You line them up.

00:06:07.040 You ask them why we're poor.

00:06:08.560 None of them.

00:06:09.840 None of them speaks about the shackles that are around my neck as an entrepreneur trying to do business underground.

00:06:16.520 Good luck with that.

00:06:17.160 Why is it so over-regulated though?

00:06:20.060 Because once upon a time we drank the fateful, ill-advised, dreadful, deadly ideology of socialism.

00:06:30.700 And I will try to describe here what socialism means, you know, because our friends, our friends who feel victimized all the time and our young people who think socialism is a good idea.

00:06:42.300 You know, for them, when they think about socialism, it's just like, oh, everybody's provided for what they need and all that.

00:06:47.660 But no, it's, you know, the government owning, you know, the means of production.

00:06:53.440 So, or when the economy is completely planned from the top down.

00:06:57.020 So, what happened, Francis, is when we got out of slavery, we got into colonialism.

00:07:06.540 And towards the end of colonialism, what we had was the liberators of Africa. 0.95

00:07:15.580 So, all over the continent, we had various people fighting for, you know, the freedom of their nations.

00:07:21.740 And so, what you had is around, right before the independences in the late 50s, early 60s, what you had was, basically, you were, for people who know their history, we were at the height of this ideological battle.

00:07:38.300 On one end, represented by the Western nations practicing, you know, capitalism, and what they were promoting was freedom, facing off with the Eastern Bloc, you know, promoting various forms of statism. 0.85

00:07:50.960 And both blocs were looking for influence, usually looking down south.

00:07:55.860 And so, we were no different.

00:07:57.820 They were looking for influence with us as well.

00:07:59.620 And so, that's when our people, especially the many of these liberators of Africa, they're thinking, okay, the West is who colonized us. 0.93

00:08:09.960 Whatever they're standing for, we cannot before.

00:08:13.500 And they threw the baby out with the bathwater. 0.63

00:08:16.460 That's when we made the fateful decision to side with the Marxist socialists of back then.

00:08:22.820 That's how, as most African nations were starting to become free, most of these leaders were also socialist leaders.

00:08:32.680 And as you know, this thing doesn't happen in a vacuum.

00:08:35.100 You just don't be like, oh, I'm a socialist, and it doesn't show anywhere else.

00:08:38.720 So, everything is following, you know, the socialist ideologies.

00:08:43.400 Basically, all of these, what do you call them, these five-year plan a la Soviet style, that's what almost all African nations had.

00:08:52.280 And then some people were like, well, Nigeria was not socialist.

00:08:54.600 Well, Nigeria still was doing a five-year plan a la Soviet style. 0.96

00:08:58.360 And so, this is what happened to us.

00:09:00.580 And we, to this day, have not reconsidered any of this.

00:09:05.220 Any of this.

00:09:05.940 Because when I go, and this gentleman is telling me, you have to bring me your Constantin's health certificate.

00:09:15.560 And I'm asking, where is it in the law?

00:09:18.680 And they open it, and I look at the date, and it's from the colonial times.

00:09:25.180 So, yeah, this is how we became socialists.

00:09:28.080 But no one sees that today.

00:09:29.220 Because what the world sees is, it's so funny, because I talk to people even on the right.

00:09:34.620 And they say, what do you mean?

00:09:37.220 Africa is this lawless land. 1.00

00:09:38.600 So, for most people, there's no law going on in Africa.

00:09:40.960 It's like every man for themselves. 0.98

00:09:42.400 And my fellow Africans also feel the same way, because they'll be like, what do you mean that Senegal, and in general, Africa, is the region in the world where the employees are the most protected?

00:09:53.900 I'm like, yes, on paper.

00:09:56.060 This is the region of the world where employees are the most protected around the world.

00:10:00.140 And they're like, which Africa do you live in?

00:10:02.120 Because the Africa I live in, and I'm in every day, I see people who have not been paid for eight months. 0.97

00:10:08.960 I see people who are treated like crap at their jobs. 0.90

00:10:11.520 I don't see protected people. 0.98

00:10:14.000 I say, I'll explain.

00:10:16.560 What you see is the result of us on paper.

00:10:19.860 I take my country.

00:10:20.740 Senegal is one of the countries where the employees are the most protected in the world.

00:10:26.000 How does it translate for us?

00:10:28.360 We're one of the 25 poorest countries in the world.

00:10:30.480 What people need to understand is the law is the law.

00:10:35.820 If you make it super, an employee being super protected means there's tons of labor regulations that stand in the way.

00:10:42.980 That at-will employment that I get in the U.S.?

00:10:45.260 Absolutely not over here.

00:10:46.860 Because remember, the government gets to tell me when we can hire each other, when I need to get rid of you.

00:10:52.680 Even if you're stealing from me, the government has to sanction that decision.

00:10:55.660 So the government makes a decision as to when and how much it's going to cost me to get rid of you.

00:11:00.480 Even if you're at risk.

00:11:02.220 And then what does it mean?

00:11:03.580 Most people don't want to hire people full-time.

00:11:06.760 So they play with the law around the...

00:11:10.600 They basically hire somebody for two years as a contractor.

00:11:14.100 Right before the two years is over, you need to leave.

00:11:17.260 Then come back two days later or a week later.

00:11:19.720 Because that way we can start over again.

00:11:21.920 Because if you try to renew those contracts after two times, it turns into an indefinite contract.

00:11:30.340 And when that happens, it means you're a full-time...

00:11:32.600 You're now an employee.

00:11:33.800 You're considered like this is it.

00:11:35.860 It's almost like a permanent situation.

00:11:37.840 And so I tell people, think about it.

00:11:39.580 If you're about...

00:11:41.020 You fall in love and you're about to marry.

00:11:42.820 And I say to you, Constantin, be very careful because, you know, this person you're about

00:11:47.760 to marry for whatever reason, no matter what happens and you need to divorce, you can't

00:11:51.900 divorce.

00:11:52.700 Do you think you're going to get married?

00:11:54.320 No.

00:11:55.400 So I tell people, if I can't fire you, I can't hire you.

00:11:58.900 I know it sounds cruel, but it makes sense, right?

00:12:01.600 And so this is what we have.

00:12:03.080 So what happens is, because the laws are so cumbersome, almost no one wants to set up

00:12:08.940 a business, at least not a legal business.

00:12:11.720 There's a reason why there's 97% of businesses in Senegal that are in the informal sector.

00:12:17.860 I repeat, 97% of the businesses in Senegal are in the informal sector.

00:12:23.800 It's directly correlated to what I just explained. 0.67

00:12:27.860 People are not stupid.

00:12:28.640 And the reason I asked about corruption earlier is I know from Russia, for example, where it's 0.91

00:12:34.700 not as bad in terms of regulations, et cetera.

00:12:37.240 But the reason that these restrictions and these apparatchiks and these bureaucrats exist

00:12:43.120 to get involved in your business is because they get to exercise power over a business.

00:12:49.280 And then they can say, well, you know, I could look at this letter now.

00:12:52.780 I could look at it three weeks from now.

00:12:54.160 Exactly.

00:12:54.500 And that depends on whether you want to leave this envelope on my desk because you walk out

00:12:57.840 of the room.

00:12:58.100 Exactly.

00:12:58.640 We have the same thing.

00:13:00.240 We have the same thing.

00:13:00.900 But then the reason why I will not accept corruption as the reason why we are poor is because

00:13:07.020 corruption is a symptom.

00:13:08.820 It's a consequence of this.

00:13:10.100 Exactly.

00:13:10.600 And I am just tired, tired when it comes to Africa, especially that most people are stuck

00:13:15.400 at the symptoms, at the consequences level.

00:13:18.660 We'll never get there otherwise.

00:13:20.540 So we have to, I don't know, it's, it's, I know that it is not sexy to look at laws, to

00:13:25.100 think about laws.

00:13:26.140 For most people, laws are invisible.

00:13:27.440 And it's true. 0.56

00:13:28.260 And that's what makes it so complicated.

00:13:29.940 It's an invisible thing.

00:13:30.900 But everything around us, if you think about it, oftentimes is ruled by regulations and

00:13:35.740 some type of laws.

00:13:36.960 So, so this is, so when you talk about corruption, the reason why I, I hear many people like,

00:13:43.040 there's a hundred people I told you about being lined up.

00:13:45.120 Corruption is going to be probably way up there.

00:13:47.640 And I say, no, corruption is the sign that there are too many laws and also too many senseless

00:13:52.900 laws.

00:13:53.860 Because every time that gentleman gets a chance to interact with me, this person from the 0.96

00:13:58.860 state interacts with me.

00:14:00.260 If I did not have to deal with this person like it is in the US, there is no friction.

00:14:04.860 There is no point.

00:14:06.560 There's no place in, in which this person can exercise the power that the state give them.

00:14:13.080 When the state said to this person, you get to decide if Constantin and Magat can work

00:14:18.140 together, right there, right there, you opened everything up for corruption.

00:14:22.920 Because this person knows now that my fate depends on his decision or her decision.

00:14:28.260 And so what happens is they're just going to sit there, make things last longer than

00:14:32.140 they should.

00:14:32.980 And eventually that's what also happened.

00:14:34.980 They, they apply every single piece of the law, hoping that at some point you get tired

00:14:39.280 of it and eventually it's just faster, easier for you to pay the bribe and move on with

00:14:43.540 your life.

00:14:44.680 So corruption to me is, is not a good thing, of course, but it's an easy one to fix.

00:14:51.800 Remove the law, remove, you know, the interaction between me and the state official, and you

00:14:57.920 remove that opportunity for corruption and bribe happening.

00:15:03.160 Magat, but the problem is as well with corruption, as someone whose mother comes from one of the 0.99

00:15:07.020 most corrupt nations in the world, which is Venezuela, is it's, it becomes part of the 0.84

00:15:11.760 culture.

00:15:12.800 And that's really dangerous because I always think corruption is like a cancer.

00:15:17.320 Once it starts to metastasize, you see the, you see the, you see your country fall apart,

00:15:23.040 which is partly what I've seen.

00:15:24.560 Yes.

00:15:24.920 Yes.

00:15:25.760 And exactly what you're talking about, um, Francis is the reason why one of my most radical

00:15:33.140 solutions is basically around this concept of startup cities.

00:15:37.360 I don't know if you guys heard about them.

00:15:38.680 Some people call them the, uh, charter cities, but basically these are next generation, um,

00:15:45.020 special economic zones that have their own law, have their own governance, and also have

00:15:49.340 custom regulatory framework.

00:15:51.020 And so the reason why we suggest, because right now I'm involved also in policy, in, um,

00:15:57.740 in policy reforms, um, so we're talking about piecemeal legislation, as you all know, this

00:16:02.780 takes time.

00:16:03.460 And by the time you're, by the time you manage to get one law taken out or, you know, uh,

00:16:09.520 cleaned up over here, 20 million popped up over there.

00:16:12.100 And it's an endless cycle.

00:16:13.180 Meanwhile, I have hundreds of millions of young people who come to an age of working every

00:16:17.800 single year in Africa and have nowhere to turn.

00:16:20.160 This is literally a ticking bomb, a ticking bomb.

00:16:22.980 Um, maybe the Europeans see it in the form of all the, um, you know, the, uh, migrants, 0.99

00:16:27.920 um, trying to come to Europe, the Americans.

00:16:30.940 And now we know that some Africans are also using, um, the, um, the, um, Central American

00:16:36.460 routes going to Nicaragua and from there passing over to the U S I, I don't personally blame

00:16:43.100 those young people.

00:16:44.000 They have done what humans have done throughout times in my country right now.

00:16:48.620 What they love is to pound on them, you know, be like, you should have more pride.

00:16:52.980 Then stay in your own country. 0.87

00:16:54.400 No, no, no.

00:16:54.820 The story of humans is if here doesn't work for you, you go over there.

00:16:58.820 All of us are results of, of just that.

00:17:01.060 And it's the most healthy instinct to have.

00:17:04.040 So I am not mad at it.

00:17:07.040 I am sad.

00:17:08.060 I'm, I'm, I'm oftentimes I'm unconsolable.

00:17:11.880 Even today you get up, you watch, you, you check for news every single day.

00:17:20.060 There are news of boats, little fishermen's boats, bless you, leaving my country, trying 1.00

00:17:25.540 to make it to Europe with tons of young people in them.

00:17:30.600 And I'd like to say our most entrepreneurial people, because who leaves?

00:17:33.820 This is a self-chosen group, right?

00:17:35.580 These are the ones we need back home.

00:17:38.120 And, uh, but right now for most of them, they're laying at the bottom of the ocean, serving

00:17:42.640 us fish food.

00:17:43.280 And I sit there and I ask myself, is this the best we can do?

00:17:47.220 Uh, when they don't die like that, you find them bodies dropping from the plane, you know,

00:17:51.720 like, uh, because somebody thought it was a good idea to hide in the landing gear and

00:17:55.000 somewhere above England here, where we are, a body drops, or you open the cargo section

00:17:59.760 of a plane and you see a frozen body because no one told them that, you know, when it gets

00:18:03.780 up there, things get really cold and they're going to die.

00:18:06.760 And then when they think that air route is too dangerous, sea route is too dangerous,

00:18:11.260 then they're like, we're going to go land route and land route.

00:18:14.120 So many of them get stuck in Libya and in Libya right now, when you, when you caught someone 0.66

00:18:18.380 like me, they sell you as a slave for 300, between 300 and $500.

00:18:23.060 So the misery, the misery.

00:18:26.080 Um, so for me, it's just, um, I, I, um, I look at this and I'm thinking to myself, what

00:18:34.320 are we going to do?

00:18:35.560 What do we do?

00:18:36.340 So, like I said, I've been working on peace on, uh, reforms, but that takes too long.

00:18:40.340 And the kids are not waiting.

00:18:41.900 The kids are not waiting.

00:18:42.720 They're like, I've got a life to live.

00:18:44.120 I've got to go now.

00:18:45.140 I've got to try this.

00:18:47.160 Okay.

00:18:48.360 So what's the solution?

00:18:50.080 We have to speed everything up.

00:18:51.940 We have to be radical.

00:18:53.640 And because trying to do things at a national level takes forever, we're like, how about

00:18:59.980 on a smaller piece of land, the size of a city there, we basically change, uh, the rules

00:19:07.820 of the game there we bring to the local entrepreneurs, the best business environment that there is

00:19:14.680 a la Singapore or a la Denmark, if not better.

00:19:18.260 And we bring that to people right where they are.

00:19:21.560 And from there, you almost basically building this area where people get to try before they

00:19:26.860 buy.

00:19:27.140 And for me, this is very much, um, the future, this is very much part of a solution because

00:19:32.320 like you said, um, at some point, corruption becomes part of, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's

00:19:38.520 in everything.

00:19:39.620 And you try to fight it.

00:19:42.560 You have people fighting you back everywhere.

00:19:44.680 You have all of these entrenched interests fighting from everywhere you go nowhere.

00:19:48.060 So it is smarter to do it this way.

00:19:50.920 And then when it starts to work here, what we have also found is that actually all these

00:19:55.300 other oligarchs who used to benefit from the system and were very, you know, thriving in

00:20:00.500 this corruption, corrupted world, all of a sudden they're finding that, oh, wait, first

00:20:04.480 of all, this is extra business for me because now there is activity going on here.

00:20:08.440 And on top of that, now they're starting to convert slowly to the place where you don't

00:20:14.460 have to, you don't need to know anybody in order to thrive.

00:20:17.960 And they're starting to, to realize, oh, wow, I actually can make money in a manner where

00:20:22.340 I don't have to be, um, bonded to anyone, uh, you know, because a lot of them, they're

00:20:28.460 not living the best lives.

00:20:29.640 You might see them with a fancy homes, fancy cars and fancy everything.

00:20:33.140 But I see, I'm not going to say slaves because, you know, out of respect for the real

00:20:39.260 slaves, but I see people that are not free at the very minimum people that owe everything

00:20:44.220 that they have to these governments.

00:20:46.360 There is a government in West Africa, I won't say the name here, where the president is quite

00:20:50.420 known, where you go to the parties.

00:20:52.640 So all of these people who benefit from his largesse, they have these great big businesses,

00:20:57.380 all crony business.

00:20:58.600 You know what he does?

00:20:59.680 He'll invite your wife to go dance with him. 0.61

00:21:02.220 You're sitting right there and he's there touching her, doing all the things he wants

00:21:06.200 to do to her. 0.92

00:21:06.720 And there's not one single damn thing you can do about it because you open your mouth or 0.64

00:21:10.580 you even flinch your eyelashes out of, you know, anger.

00:21:15.140 And the next day he'll send you all the people, the auditors that are going to come and tell

00:21:20.380 you how much taxes you actually owe them after all of these years and everything else.

00:21:24.640 Do you really think people like that want to continue like that?

00:21:26.400 So when you create these zones, all of a sudden they start to see and even them eventually

00:21:29.860 start to convert.

00:21:30.960 So the plan is you do it somewhere where there's actually almost nothing existing.

00:21:35.000 And then from there you create a new reality.

00:21:38.020 I call it, I call these little islands of excellence.

00:21:40.700 And then from there you, you watch the island of excellence become an inspiration for other

00:21:45.000 people.

00:21:45.360 And then they try to imitate this, what happened over here.

00:21:48.720 And that's little by little how you get to change everything around you.

00:21:52.180 So that really is a path I've been on and I've been promoting it for the past year on

00:21:57.480 the continent.

00:21:57.960 At first it was one country that, you know, was very interested and we had to do all the

00:22:02.960 jump through all the hoops and to interest them.

00:22:05.960 And now I'm happy to say there's four nations that we're talking to.

00:22:09.200 And out of those, one I think is ultra, ultra, ultra promising.

00:22:14.140 And hopefully within the next few months, we'll be now able to announce where we're doing this.

00:22:17.980 So I am so bullish on the continent.

00:22:20.800 It's not even a joke because we know that when you do things like this, it takes within

00:22:25.120 25 years, we're talking about a generation, you can see the change starting to happen.

00:22:29.520 And so that's why my goal is, my stated goal is by 20, 2.5 billion prosperous Africans by

00:22:37.460 2050, because that's how many we will be by then.

00:22:40.320 So, yeah, that's, that's pretty much what the plan is.

00:22:43.520 And I'm really, I'm really inspired by what you said, because one of the things I noticed

00:22:49.880 when I was in Venezuela was, we call it tercer mundista, which means third world, third world

00:22:55.560 attitude.

00:22:57.060 And it's, and people, you know, in the West would be like, oh, that's a really horrible

00:23:00.720 way to look at it.

00:23:01.820 But it's true.

00:23:02.840 You know, and particularly when you look at politics and these politicians, all they care

00:23:06.460 about is reaching the top, not because they want to serve their nation, not because they

00:23:10.200 want to turn what should be one of the richest countries in the world in terms of resources

00:23:14.160 into one of the richest countries of the world.

00:23:16.600 But all they care about is getting to the top and enriching themselves.

00:23:20.620 That's right.

00:23:21.080 That's right.

00:23:21.580 And you think to yourself, you look at it and you go, well, it doesn't matter how rich

00:23:24.760 your country is.

00:23:25.780 It doesn't matter the potentiality a country has.

00:23:28.120 You are always going to be doomed to fail.

00:23:30.060 That's right.

00:23:30.760 That's right.

00:23:31.480 Yeah.

00:23:32.280 No, very much.

00:23:33.040 And so that's why for me, you know, it's very much my attitude in life is criticized

00:23:38.460 by creating.

00:23:39.360 So it's like when something is wrong, of course, put your finger on what's wrong so that you

00:23:44.420 can, because without a proper diagnosis, you can't really come to a right solution.

00:23:47.880 But beyond that, then get working on the solution. 0.97

00:23:50.520 Otherwise, sit down and shut up.

00:23:52.460 Well, I do think history is very important because people, in order to control the future, 0.97

00:23:59.000 you control the past.

00:24:00.000 And the stories that people are told about their own history and the history of other

00:24:06.060 people and the history of the relations between them are really important, I think, in terms

00:24:10.840 of people's sense of who they are.

00:24:13.540 So I imagine if you tell people constantly, well, you are where you are because of colonialism

00:24:18.940 or because of slavery, because of this, it creates a certain mindset.

00:24:22.100 And I just want to come back to that because is it really true that colonialism, you know,

00:24:30.000 isn't really important in the history of Africa, in the history of where Africa is today?

00:24:35.620 And I'm always the first one to say, did it have a big role in it?

00:24:41.620 Absolutely.

00:24:42.520 Absolutely.

00:24:42.900 But my problem is, if you, you know, the thing is, I always like to say, yes, and, right?

00:24:55.420 And not be stuck at, we cannot, what happened, there's nothing we can do about that.

00:25:02.640 Nothing.

00:25:03.020 Yeah.

00:25:03.780 And denying what happened also is definitely not where I'm coming from.

00:25:07.780 I'm the first one to say, yes, this stuff happened and it was violent among probably

00:25:11.800 one of the most violent colonizations that there were if we have to measure these things.

00:25:19.140 So absolutely, all of that happened.

00:25:21.720 Just like, you know, if you're born to, I don't know, drug addicted parents, whatever.

00:25:28.160 Of course, it's going to be part of who you are today, but does that control what you can

00:25:33.160 do later for yourself?

00:25:34.200 No.

00:25:34.800 I had this great friend of mine, he passed away, but he said, no matter what happened to

00:25:38.580 you, you're responsible for what you do for you.

00:25:41.700 And I really, really, for me, that's, I'm trying to extract our people from that place of 1.00

00:25:48.020 commiseration, of this is what happened to us, of this was so wrong.

00:25:53.440 We got to depart from that place, however defining part of our history thought it was.

00:26:01.480 And someone like me, I like to remind our people, there were Africans on that great continent

00:26:09.120 before the white man ever set foot on the continent.

00:26:13.200 Who were we?

00:26:14.040 What were we doing?

00:26:15.180 What was our story?

00:26:16.100 And when you look there and you look at the work of people like Professor George Ayite,

00:26:21.720 great new, also historians that are coming up, and you can, and you see that Africa had

00:26:29.220 some of the richest empires of their times.

00:26:32.060 We don't know this.

00:26:33.300 We don't think about this.

00:26:35.220 I, in fact, I argue that for most people, Africans and non-Africans, the story of Africa

00:26:40.240 starts with slavery, moves on to colonialism to present day.

00:26:43.600 So we are robbed from a very important time of our history.

00:26:48.580 And when you look at that time of our history, Africans were practicing the free enterprise.

00:26:54.620 We were free marketeers, trade routes, among some of them most vibrant in the world.

00:27:00.740 So that's also part of my birthright.

00:27:03.160 Yeah.

00:27:03.620 Have we gotten derailed afterwards?

00:27:06.360 Yes.

00:27:07.900 Yes.

00:27:09.080 Does it play a role in who we are today?

00:27:11.660 Yes.

00:27:12.060 Yes.

00:27:12.900 Yes.

00:27:14.080 But is that where the story ends?

00:27:17.720 I guess some people would like it to be that way.

00:27:20.340 What about the way we have these conversations in the West?

00:27:23.580 Because obviously you're someone who's come from Senegal and you live in the US some of

00:27:28.460 the time.

00:27:29.680 And I imagine because you have a certain skin color, people assume certain things about

00:27:34.780 you and want to sort of bring you into a certain conversation.

00:27:40.180 Yes.

00:27:40.400 How do you see the way we talk about these issues in the West?

00:27:44.980 You know, Constantin, when I came to these...

00:27:48.440 By the way, I love the French pronunciation of my name.

00:27:50.700 It's so good.

00:27:51.280 Well, you prefer...

00:27:51.780 Constantin.

00:27:52.520 It's so good.

00:27:53.140 I prefer Constantin.

00:27:53.760 It's sexy.

00:27:54.680 I like it.

00:27:55.160 What about me?

00:27:56.080 What about...

00:27:56.680 Francis.

00:27:57.320 Yeah.

00:27:57.780 That actually sounds good.

00:27:58.520 It sounds sexier than Francis.

00:28:05.100 When we were in Austin, that's all anybody said to me.

00:28:07.680 Well, the Americans, Francis.

00:28:09.020 I know.

00:28:09.400 Americans.

00:28:10.520 And I keep telling them, you are the one with the weird accent. 1.00

00:28:13.140 Yeah.

00:28:13.560 They are, actually.

00:28:14.560 Yeah, they are.

00:28:14.800 They are.

00:28:15.160 It's funny because when I first moved to America, that's when I learned that actually

00:28:19.200 the English that I learned was British.

00:28:21.880 And yes, that's what we learned and the accent, everything.

00:28:25.640 So since I got to the US...

00:28:26.900 You learned correctly.

00:28:27.900 Yes.

00:28:28.360 You're welcome.

00:28:28.980 Yes.

00:28:29.280 I agree with you.

00:28:30.940 That is not a good look, mate.

00:28:33.780 We spent half an hour talking about slavery and colonialism.

00:28:37.100 And then I'm like, thank you.

00:28:38.380 Yeah, thank you.

00:28:38.980 Well, you know, that part of the language, but...

00:28:42.720 But anyway, sorry, we got derailed.

00:28:44.900 No, but you know, when I came to visa, when I came to understand everything that I understand

00:28:48.920 today that I'm sharing with you, I literally lost 90% of my friends.

00:28:53.480 I came from the left.

00:28:55.060 I used to belong to the left.

00:28:56.420 I was borderline commie, if you can believe that.

00:28:59.180 Yes.

00:28:59.720 Why?

00:29:00.100 Because that was what you were taught?

00:29:03.320 Because for the longest...

00:29:05.540 I've always cared about people.

00:29:06.800 I've always cared about people.

00:29:09.420 I've always cared about, you know, the...

00:29:14.580 I don't know what the right word is, but maybe not the little people, but you know what I 1.00

00:29:18.060 mean by that.

00:29:18.680 But I've always cared about those among us who are disadvantaged, you know?

00:29:23.560 And so for the longest time, I really believed what that side was saying, what the socialists

00:29:29.580 were saying.

00:29:31.160 I believe that maybe it was the best chance for, you know, disadvantaged people.

00:29:36.800 So I believe, and especially, you know, and yes, back then, I used to think all the things

00:29:42.800 that I push back on today, I used to think that, yeah, colonialism is the reason why we

00:29:48.600 were where we were.

00:29:49.780 The fact that our national, our natural resources are being, you know, literally stolen is why

00:29:55.780 we were where we are.

00:29:56.760 Or maybe racism, maybe, you know, they just didn't, they, the white people just didn't

00:30:01.240 want us to get somewhere.

00:30:02.760 So I believed, I believed all of this for a long time.

00:30:05.880 And, but what I discovered is once I started running this business of mine, the first time,

00:30:12.980 that's when I started to really, I saw the discrepancy between running a business back

00:30:18.640 home and running a business in the US.

00:30:20.080 And at first I thought to myself, well, of course, we're poor, that's why it's so hard.

00:30:24.900 And conversely, they're rich, that's why it's so easy.

00:30:27.460 Just to come to understand that relationship that I told you about, we're poor because we

00:30:31.420 don't have enough money, at least not enough money to take care of our basic needs.

00:30:34.380 Where does money come from for most of us?

00:30:36.620 It's a job, right?

00:30:38.060 And where do jobs come from?

00:30:39.480 The private sector for the most part.

00:30:42.620 And so once you understand that, and then you realize that, yeah, and for companies to be,

00:30:46.660 they need a good business environment, and you realize, and here I am seeing that it's

00:30:50.900 so hard for me to do business over here.

00:30:54.120 That's when I was like, wait a second.

00:30:56.220 So the dots started to connect.

00:30:57.940 And I was like, wait a second.

00:30:59.760 And so from that moment on, everything started to collide in my head because I was like, the

00:31:04.720 people that I have been with this whole time who were very good at, you know, comforting

00:31:10.000 me in those thoughts of victimhood in a way, they don't like business.

00:31:14.920 They think business is evil.

00:31:16.660 Yeah, they do.

00:31:18.520 Is that not the weirdest thing?

00:31:21.660 I find that so strange.

00:31:23.800 And there's a lot of it here in England.

00:31:25.720 There's a lot of it here in England.

00:31:27.200 They, you know, on TV, people talk constantly about, oh, the 1% this and the 1% that.

00:31:33.220 And I'm going, they pay like a shit ton of tax for all the public services that we enjoy.

00:31:39.760 And most of them, look, there's crony capitalism. 0.50

00:31:41.940 Of course there is.

00:31:42.740 Of course there is.

00:31:43.160 But most of those people got to where they got to by providing a service to other people

00:31:49.340 that those people want to pay for.

00:31:50.860 Exactly.

00:31:51.120 And yet these people hate them.

00:31:53.400 I can't get my head around it.

00:31:55.880 No.

00:31:56.280 And I can't either.

00:32:00.440 But at some point I came to realize that there's probably nothing to understand.

00:32:05.660 You know, when I listened to these people, I saw something.

00:32:11.760 And I saw, because when I started to confront them, why, why, why?

00:32:17.120 Once upon a time, I believed in these ideas and I believed in your good heart.

00:32:23.000 I believed that you two were into it because of, because you believed like me, that was

00:32:28.660 the best chance that the global poor had.

00:32:32.200 The global poor has always been my concern because I come from a continent that's known

00:32:36.620 for that and that needs to change.

00:32:39.080 So I believed that you guys cared.

00:32:42.800 And now that I'm confronting you, all I hear from you is something rather ugly.

00:32:49.120 Do you know what I hear from them?

00:32:51.740 Envy.

00:32:53.120 Envy. 0.98

00:32:53.980 It's disgusting. 1.00

00:32:55.260 It's disgusting. 0.99

00:32:56.380 It is evil. 0.93

00:32:57.620 It's wrong.

00:32:58.300 All I could hear and all I could sense was envy. 0.98

00:33:03.340 And then I realized, oh, so I was a cover up for your disgusting, most vile sentiment. 1.00

00:33:13.600 You were using me and my likes to promote your stupid ideology that in the end just goes to 1.00

00:33:20.260 serve your envy. 1.00

00:33:21.180 That's when, for me, the left lost their moral high ground.

00:33:27.200 That's it.

00:33:27.700 I could, I was done.

00:33:30.020 And yeah, and I guess they were done with me as well.

00:33:34.160 Magat, there has been quite a number of criticisms against France and its relationship with the French-speaking

00:33:43.540 African countries.

00:33:45.080 And they say that there have been a lot of criticisms that France has quite a parasitic relationship to these countries.

00:33:51.480 Do you agree with that?

00:33:52.500 Do you disagree?

00:33:54.420 I absolutely agree with that.

00:33:57.740 I really do.

00:34:01.480 Most of our economy seems to be controlled by the French.

00:34:04.740 But that's not how we correct this, the way we correct the situation.

00:34:11.540 Sorry to interrupt you there, because you said most of our economy is being controlled by the French.

00:34:16.060 Can you tell people, people like me, who have just heard this and go, well, what do you mean by this?

00:34:21.260 Yes.

00:34:21.520 So, basically, in my country, Senegal, for example, you look at the telecommunications company, it's called Orange.

00:34:37.100 And it's what all Africans use. 1.00

00:34:42.100 And basically, we're talking about our cell phones, all of that.

00:34:45.420 I mean, these people are making billions of dollars every single year.

00:34:48.420 And for the longest time, they were the only game in town.

00:34:51.520 And you should see the crappy service that we have had.

00:34:55.940 But that's what happens, I guess, when you have a monopoly, right?

00:34:58.720 So, there, then, a lot of our gas stations owned by the French as well.

00:35:06.260 Even today, the largest grocery store chain is called Auchan.

00:35:11.540 So, don't take me wrong.

00:35:13.480 I think they set it up as a franchise.

00:35:15.040 So, yes, many Senegalese people are, you know, they own these franchises.

00:35:20.040 And there are a lot of people who are being employed.

00:35:24.340 Business is happening.

00:35:25.720 So, my point is not that business is happening or not happening.

00:35:28.340 Business happening is always a good thing.

00:35:30.360 But I think the reason why people have such a big problem is in looking at it, and it seems like everything is controlled by France.

00:35:37.420 Which, in a way, it is.

00:35:38.920 And I am sure that France is probably playing its power, its hand in that.

00:35:46.120 Also, our currency is pegged against the euro.

00:35:51.960 And France is, there are guarantors.

00:35:56.180 Even before, even before the euro was there, our currency was not printed in my country.

00:36:02.560 It's printed in France.

00:36:04.020 And they keep a big reserve back there for, you know, guarantees.

00:36:08.400 And so, it's unbelievable.

00:36:10.280 Even this language that we're speaking, I have a problem with.

00:36:14.460 Why is it that French should be our official language?

00:36:18.220 It is our official language.

00:36:20.080 And then what you see there is, because I'm like, if we're going to have to speak another language, an international language.

00:36:25.260 Because I understand, you know, it's good to have an international language because you can belong then to the global scene of business.

00:36:31.580 And you can be included.

00:36:34.120 But France, I mean, are you kidding me?

00:36:36.760 Are you really seriously kidding me?

00:36:38.400 Is French really going to be, is it really a language of, international language of business?

00:36:44.780 Are you kidding me?

00:36:45.780 No.

00:36:46.300 But I feel like we're trapped in that thing just because of their ego.

00:36:49.140 When I hear someone like Jacques Attali telling me a few years ago, he's like, well, by 2050, you know, French is going to be the third most spoken language in the world.

00:36:57.120 I'm like, oh yeah, because I know you're relying on us Africans for that to happen. 0.66

00:37:02.680 Because we're the youngest continent in the world, 19 years of age on average.

00:37:07.000 And by 2050, one out of four people walking this earth will be African.

00:37:11.800 So I know where is it that France thinks they're going to get their language to not die.

00:37:16.320 It's going to be thanks to us.

00:37:17.480 I'm like, but if I have anything to do with that, that's not going to happen.

00:37:20.320 Thank you very much.

00:37:20.980 Because, so right now, so anywhere from the language to all our economy, like some of the biggest companies making the most money are French.

00:37:30.800 And it's pretty much the same up and down the francophone, you know, corridor.

00:37:34.140 But there again, you ask me and I say, you know what?

00:37:39.820 The French are doing exactly what they should be. 1.00

00:37:43.840 I shouldn't even say they should be doing.

00:37:45.280 They're doing exactly what they get away, what they can get away with.

00:37:48.340 So I'm not going to say they're doing what they should be doing.

00:37:50.740 I don't think actually what they're doing is smart.

00:37:52.620 So I wouldn't even call it what they should be doing.

00:37:54.320 I don't think it's smart.

00:37:55.000 I don't think it's right.

00:37:55.640 But they're doing what they can get away with.

00:37:59.280 And as long as the rest of us are locked out, our country remains poor.

00:38:10.260 It remains poor.

00:38:10.960 It means it has no sovereignty, really.

00:38:12.840 It has no sovereignty.

00:38:13.720 It means it needs to answer to the people who bail it out, which is usually going to be France for the most part, you know, the European nations and some of the U.S. as well.

00:38:22.740 So as long as you keep your entrepreneurs down and they can't produce the wealth that all nations that are prosperous rely on, then you are going to remain a poor nation, which means you have no sovereignty, which means you're entering to a foreign entity, a foreign government in this case, because foreign aid.

00:38:46.460 So this is also the part that my fellow Africans, I feel, don't really understand.

00:38:50.700 So their natural instinct is we see this.

00:38:53.520 It doesn't look right.

00:38:54.340 It doesn't feel right.

00:38:55.500 And then our solution to this is we're going to do a coup.

00:38:59.300 I'm sure you've been hearing about the, you know, resurgences of coups in West Africa.

00:39:06.060 They're back.

00:39:07.480 And so the plan there is we're going to kick these people out who are responding to who are basically the valets of France.

00:39:14.280 And then we're going to have people in here who are not going to be the valets of France anymore.

00:39:18.680 And then voila, things are going to change.

00:39:21.320 Well, they're going to be the valets of Russia and China now.

00:39:23.860 Thank you very much.

00:39:25.700 Thank you very much.

00:39:26.800 Because what we don't understand is that the only way to be truly, truly, truly sovereign is to make your own money.

00:39:36.880 That's the only way.

00:39:38.140 And until we get there, we are always, always going to be under someone's rule.

00:39:46.840 The sooner we understand that, the sooner we get to work, and we know what to do when it comes to get to work, and the sooner this gets corrected.

00:39:53.680 And like I said, within 25 years, it can be a very different story.

00:39:56.960 But how do you disentangle those roots, McGat?

00:40:00.980 How do you stop your currency being pegged against the euro?

00:40:05.180 Because that is something that I've heard.

00:40:06.800 And when I found out about it, I was shocked.

00:40:09.480 And we talk about, you know, modern-day colonialism.

00:40:12.760 In a way, isn't that sort of modern-day colonialism?

00:40:15.220 It really is.

00:40:16.100 It is.

00:40:17.060 But again, my point with all of that is...

00:40:23.140 I have two things to say on that.

00:40:26.960 Um, first of all, I want to put a caveat in this.

00:40:33.820 Having your own currency, is that a good idea?

00:40:37.780 Yes.

00:40:38.500 Every time it's possible, I say, be in control of your own currency.

00:40:44.600 In this situation, though, I would like to say, when you see what happens to some of these nations that have their own currency and what they do...

00:40:52.140 I mean, look, again, remember the hundred people that you line up and you ask them, why are we where we are?

00:40:56.340 We are bad leaders, corrupt leaders.

00:40:59.080 They don't think about us. 0.97

00:40:59.920 They don't care about us.

00:41:01.360 These are the same people that I've been hearing on TV when, you know, we had the risk, when we have inflation, all of that stuff.

00:41:08.240 And you know what I hear them say?

00:41:09.960 Oh, well, during COVID, they were watching what the West was doing, you know, the printing machine.

00:41:15.500 And they said, you see, we should have the right, we should have the ability to do the same thing.

00:41:22.400 Except that us, it would not have happened just for COVID.

00:41:24.900 It would have been something that happens all the time.

00:41:26.700 I mean, you come from Venezuela, you know how that thing works.

00:41:28.720 You see what happens in Zimbabwe.

00:41:31.040 You see what happens.

00:41:32.600 I mean, we're not talking about, you know, 20% inflation or things like that.

00:41:35.800 We're talking about, you know, hundreds, 400s.

00:41:38.780 Some parts of Sudan, it's not even a joke.

00:41:41.040 So that's what, you know, when you have irresponsible people, you know, in charge of currency, that's what they do.

00:41:48.380 That doesn't mean that I'm saying we should be under somebody else's rule when it comes to our monetary, you know, tools.

00:41:57.220 That's not what I'm saying.

00:41:58.420 But I also would like for our people to remember that as well.

00:42:01.240 Because right now, I wouldn't be surprised that a lot of the Francophone African nations, if they had their own currencies,

00:42:06.700 they would be crying probably more than the Nigerians are crying in Nigeria with the Naira, right?

00:42:12.260 And everybody's looking for dollars under the cover.

00:42:14.920 So that's the thing about currency.

00:42:18.320 Now, it doesn't mean that this should be the way.

00:42:21.360 What I advocate for, forget being pegged to anything.

00:42:25.560 Forget fiat currency.

00:42:26.840 I don't trust fiat currency, period.

00:42:29.980 This is why I'm big time on Bitcoin, something like Bitcoin.

00:42:33.660 Because fiat currencies don't have the qualities that a good currency has, especially when it comes to sound money.

00:42:43.260 We don't have sound money anywhere around the world, you look at it.

00:42:47.440 So for me, this is a place where, again, Africans are going to need to leapfrog. 1.00

00:42:51.220 Forget jumping on some type of fiat currency just so later to exactly have the same problem we're having all over the world with fiat currencies.

00:42:58.660 And then be thinking about, you know, cryptos or some.

00:43:02.580 And in my case, I believe really in Bitcoin.

00:43:05.480 So for me, it's like today, if we want to get rid of that, make it that Bitcoin is legal tender, along with anything else that people might want.

00:43:18.000 Give people a choice.

00:43:19.200 And this is really something that our country, it's a matter of, it's a political will.

00:43:25.440 Sign, sign somewhere that you want to get rid of that.

00:43:28.700 But our people, instead of understanding and putting the pressure where it needs to be put, it's all about, we're just going to destroy everything. 0.99

00:43:35.460 Put in place some people who, you know, like these military people through a coup and let's watch things happen.

00:43:41.960 Mali has been, they had their coup more than, I think, two years ago. 0.90

00:43:46.480 So Burkina Faso had a coup on top of a coup.

00:43:49.380 What changes am I seeing there?

00:43:50.660 Not really.

00:43:52.480 Niger just had one recently. 0.99

00:43:54.280 And their big plan was, oh, yeah, you know, without us, France can't make it because, you know, they rely on our uranium.

00:44:00.580 You know, without us.

00:44:01.580 Yeah, we're going to sit on this and you're seeing what happens.

00:44:04.180 Well, guess what?

00:44:06.040 The French are like now making multibillion dollar deals with some other nations.

00:44:10.040 Because guess what?

00:44:10.900 We don't have a monopoly of natural resources.

00:44:13.120 Some people are just keeping it in their ground because they don't need to have access to it yet.

00:44:17.140 But if you want to mess with them over here, they go somewhere else and they do that.

00:44:20.180 And I think Africans have not understood that yet. 0.99

00:44:22.600 What kills me the most is this African belief that, oh, if we just sit on our natural resources. 1.00

00:44:28.940 First of all, the plan is let's become one.

00:44:32.360 I'm like, aren't you the same people who are always complaining about the leaders?

00:44:35.240 And now you're telling me that the whole fate of the whole continent is going to be into the hands of one of these people?

00:44:41.460 Really?

00:44:42.260 At least now when the Chinese want to buy us or the Russians want to buy us, they have to go and negotiate country by country by country.

00:44:49.780 They have to do the dance 54 times.

00:44:51.980 And out of those 54 nations, some are like, no, thank you very much.

00:44:55.420 Others are like, yeah, here is my newborn on top of that as a, you know, as a bonus.

00:45:00.480 You know what I mean?

00:45:01.120 It's all over the place.

00:45:01.920 But now you're going to make it that one person gets to sell all of us at once because that's what's going to happen.

00:45:08.760 Unless you're telling me that maybe you will be the leader of this.

00:45:12.820 And because you're so good, you're so saintly, it's all going to run properly.

00:45:17.300 Don't you worry.

00:45:18.920 And even if that was the case, you forgot that power corrupts.

00:45:21.900 Absolute power absolutely corrupts.

00:45:23.480 So this idea of one Africa speaking with one voice is going to make us stronger.

00:45:29.160 And then when we get to that one Africa, then we sit on our natural resources. 1.00

00:45:33.780 We tell people, you cannot touch our natural resources.

00:45:36.460 This is a price we command and or you have to produce here and think that the world is going to follow on that.

00:45:42.160 You know, it's this Wakanda nonsense. 1.00

00:45:44.500 I mean, seriously.

00:45:45.560 But that's where so many of us are stuck.

00:45:47.340 And this is a big problem.

00:45:49.760 And so these are the same people that have an issue with me when I say Africa is not poor because of colonialism.

00:45:55.320 But Maga, is there not a contradiction in what you're saying?

00:45:58.080 Because on the one hand, you say Africa is not poor because of colonialism.

00:46:02.040 But on the other hand, when Francis asked you about French influence.

00:46:06.080 Yeah.

00:46:06.320 Isn't that what people mean by the legacy of colonialism?

00:46:09.540 I think that's what they mean.

00:46:12.240 But I think they're wrong in that.

00:46:13.640 Because my point is, any time we could have done this, any time we could have done this, Constantin, any time, any time over the past 60 years, we could have without even touching Orange.

00:46:28.180 Because see, that's the other thing.

00:46:29.540 For me, it's not about you destroy Orange, you kick Total out, you kick all of this ocean out.

00:46:36.040 That's not and then business as usual.

00:46:38.520 That's not how we're going to become.

00:46:40.820 We're going to get anywhere.

00:46:41.580 We're actually seeing them doing that.

00:46:44.460 When you look at Burkina Faso, more or less, they have kicked the French out.

00:46:48.800 What do they have to show for themselves right now?

00:46:51.020 The Malians have done more or less the same thing. 0.98

00:46:53.720 What do they have to show for themselves?

00:46:56.360 I guarantee you that unless anything changes, six years from now, it's going to be the same.

00:47:01.900 But except, like you said, the Russians are the ones coming in right now. 1.00

00:47:05.620 So next, next, what is it going to be?

00:47:07.480 All the Russians are going to nuclear and nuclear. 0.99

00:47:08.820 So my point is, yes, the French control a lot of the economy, but that's not the reason why we're poor.

00:47:17.900 Remember, again, Constantin, go back with me.

00:47:20.600 You're poor.

00:47:21.040 Poverty is solved by prosperity.

00:47:23.560 Prosperity is built by entrepreneurs.

00:47:25.580 You are not allowing your entrepreneurs to create.

00:47:28.820 When the French show up, what you're doing for them is, here is the red carpet. 1.00

00:47:35.600 The nonsense laws that my God has to deal with, you don't have to deal with it.

00:47:39.200 The nonsense laws that my God has to contend with, or all of these terrorists when she brings up her product.

00:47:46.180 You, we made a negotiation with you that you're not going to have to put up with that.

00:47:50.040 They give you all types of exoneration, but to me, they don't.

00:47:53.060 And I am the one my country needs.

00:47:55.960 Me and others like me.

00:47:57.420 But we are excluded from the forces that allow us to release our magic of building something out of nothing, which is what I call entrepreneurs.

00:48:07.920 Entrepreneurs are those who criticize by creating and those who create something out of nothing.

00:48:12.020 You don't allow me to create.

00:48:15.180 So what's left?

00:48:16.720 And so if I'm not creating, we as a nation state war, when the big corporation shows up, which is what Total is, Orange is, all of these companies are, Coca-Cola, whatever.

00:48:26.120 When they show up, you deploy the red carpet for them because like, oh, my God, we needed you.

00:48:30.180 We needed you because we're so poor.

00:48:31.620 We want you to come and create these jobs over here when you have completely overlooked me over here.

00:48:37.160 So what you're talking about is essentially people are having the wrong conversation.

00:48:41.120 It's not whether colonialism was good or bad.

00:48:44.600 Of course, it was bad.

00:48:45.760 It's that talking about it is not actually changing anything.

00:48:49.260 It's making people feel like victims.

00:48:51.260 It's actually making them victims in the future.

00:48:54.640 Because you're not creating the wealth yourself.

00:48:57.360 And then, as you say, when the big corporations come in, you need their money because you've been brainwashed into being a victim this entire time.

00:49:04.640 Exactly.

00:49:04.920 Because you're focusing on the past instead of the future.

00:49:07.020 Exactly.

00:49:07.680 Okay.

00:49:08.000 You got it.

00:49:08.600 That's exactly my point.

00:49:09.840 That's the point I'm trying to make.

00:49:11.360 And it's just people are just stuck where they are.

00:49:14.600 And but it's OK.

00:49:17.720 Constantin Francis.

00:49:18.700 It's OK.

00:49:19.180 Do you know why it's OK?

00:49:20.280 Because it only takes one to five percent of the world to one to five percent of people to change the world for good or for bad.

00:49:28.780 That, to me, is the great promise.

00:49:30.540 So while the masses are all busy crying out loud all day that God makes, I am out there.

00:49:37.540 The reason why I'm even doing this podcast with you guys and I have this book.

00:49:41.000 It's because we're brilliant.

00:49:41.600 Yeah.

00:49:42.060 And you're a big fan of the show.

00:49:43.620 Yeah.

00:49:43.780 And I'm a big fan of the show.

00:49:44.560 Obviously.

00:49:44.740 I mean, come on.

00:49:45.280 Let's say it like it is.

00:49:46.320 Speak the truth.

00:49:47.160 Yeah.

00:49:47.480 There you go.

00:49:48.000 Yeah.

00:49:48.640 There you go.

00:49:49.600 No, but you know, the reason why I'm doing this, I'm putting myself out there.

00:49:53.320 And I have this book coming up November 13th.

00:49:55.640 It's called The Heart of a Cheetah.

00:49:56.580 The reason why I'm doing all of this is because I'm putting myself out there with this message.

00:50:01.820 And the idea is to light the beacon of light and for like-minded people to see the message.

00:50:09.880 And we want to build this place for them.

00:50:12.820 And I want them to all start congregating.

00:50:15.220 I'm looking for the cheetahs.

00:50:16.240 I'm looking for them all around the world.

00:50:17.880 And as we congregate and we form the coalition, that's how a pack of cheetahs is called, then we go and we now go for the run of our lives.

00:50:27.720 And to me, those are the people that are going to change Africa. 1.00

00:50:31.520 And the reason why we call it the cheetah, we have this reference to the cheetah is because of Professor Aite, George Aite, who is one of my intellectual fathers.

00:50:39.080 And he's the one who saw that Africa was going to get where she needs to get to, thanks to the cheetahs. 1.00

00:50:47.160 These are the fast runners of Africa.

00:50:49.180 It's a mindset mentality.

00:50:50.640 We're not there waiting for anybody.

00:50:52.260 We are the ones who are going to get it done for ourselves.

00:50:54.240 So I'm looking for the 1 to 5%.

00:50:56.260 It might sound very elitist, but that's who I'm looking for.

00:50:59.120 Because we know the rest of the world is followers.

00:51:01.420 And they will, at first, make fun of us like they have.

00:51:04.280 You know, first, they've been making fun of me.

00:51:07.960 Now, some people are also, no, first, they ignored me.

00:51:14.280 They ignore you.

00:51:16.120 I'm right now in this phase where they're making fun.

00:51:19.600 Still some ignoring, some still making fun.

00:51:22.240 We know the next step is going to be attacks.

00:51:25.040 And then after that, though, we win.

00:51:27.620 So I'm right where I need to be.

00:51:30.180 But I'm looking for my 1 to 5%.

00:51:31.940 And once I get them all, we go.

00:51:35.840 We're going to have a run of our lives.

00:51:37.420 We're going to run in leaps and bounds the way a cheetah runs.

00:51:40.480 Because like I like to say, the time for catching up is over.

00:51:43.960 Now is the time for leapfrog.

00:51:45.560 So that's pretty much what the plan is.

00:51:47.780 But I'm so glad, Constantin, you made that clarification.

00:51:50.640 Because that's really, I think, one of the tensions we're having out there.

00:51:53.940 You know, because they're like, we're still colonized.

00:51:55.940 That's why we get nowhere.

00:51:56.720 And I'm like, whatever is going on now has nothing to do with the fact that you're still poor.

00:52:03.680 It's just the wrong conversation.

00:52:05.200 It's the wrong conversation.

00:52:06.420 Well, I'm glad we had the right conversation, Magat.

00:52:08.180 Thank you.

00:52:08.560 Thank you so much for coming on.

00:52:09.900 Thank you.

00:52:10.300 Head on over to Locals, where we continue the conversation with your questions for Magat.

00:52:14.120 Does the CCP Belt and Road Initiatives in African countries improve wealth prospects

00:52:21.780 or reduce them for those countries where they're implemented?

00:52:25.100 Yes.

00:52:32.480 Yes.

00:52:33.380 Yes.

00:52:34.200 Yes.

00:52:34.780 Yes.

00:52:35.720 Yes.

00:52:35.820 Yes.

00:52:36.480 Yes.

00:52:36.940 Yes.

00:52:38.000 No, no.

00:52:38.660 No, no.

00:52:41.140 No, no.

00:52:42.060 No.

00:52:45.540 No, no.

00:52:47.560 No, no.

00:52:48.480 No.

00:52:49.900 No.

00:52:50.840 No.

00:52:51.640 No, no, no.

00:52:52.180 No, no.

00:52:52.200 No, no.

00:52:53.280 No, no.

00:52:54.020 No, no.

TRIGGERnometry - January 24, 2024

Africa is NOT Poor Because of Colonialism： Here’s Why. - Magatte Wade

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