WEF-Africa: a gathering of tyrants, corruption-riddled state firms and banksters
Venal relationships between brutal state rulers and the corporate elites they serve do not deserve celebration at the WEF-Africa
At a time both Donald Trump and Jacob Zuma personify controversies over "state capture", crony capitalism, personal corruption, populist rhetoric and self-serving economic strategies, will big business calm down the politicians — or just egg them on? The Swiss-based World Economic Forum (WEF) meets not only in Davos each January but also gathers a few thousand elites in each of the main regions annually. At the WEF-Davos in 1992, Nelson Mandela was persuaded by both East Asian and Western leaders to drop the Freedom Charter and impose pro-corporate policies. This year’s WEF-Africa delegates include tyrants such as King Mswati of Swaziland, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Zambia’s Edgar Lungu, as well as Zuma and a dozen Cabinet ministers. The co-chair is Siyabonga Gama, whose employer Transnet found him guilty of corruption after it commissioned a 200-page audit in 2010. Other corruption-riddled state firms, Telkom and Eskom, are also key players at the WEF-Africa, along with the Japa...
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