The Epstein Files: A Familiar Entanglement of Power, Finance, and African Resources
Same playbook, different decade: The extraction of African resources, cloaked in 'development'. FIRST INSTANCE: The Scramble for Africa, 1884-1885 Records show the Berlin Conference, convened by Otto von Bismarck, formally carved up the African continent among European powers, disregarding indigenous sovereignty for access to raw materials like rubber, minerals, and ivory. This established a
precedent where European political and financial interests directly dictated African economic structures (Hochschild, 1998). The ostensible goal was 'civilization' and 'trade', but the outcome was systemic exploitation and wealth transfer. REPETITIONS: Post-Colonial Predation and Structural Adjustment, 1960s-1990s Following nominal independence, many African nations found themselves entangled in
new forms of financial dependency. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, often dominated by Western interests, imposed Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) from the 1980s. These forced privatization and deregulation, ostensibly to 'modernize' economies, but frequently destabilized local industries and facilitated foreign corporate takeovers of key assets and resources (Chomsky,
1999). This continued the pattern of external financial actors dictating terms to African states, often with the involvement of ex-colonial power elites. OUTCOMES: The 'Resource Curse' and Elite Capture Each iteration saw wealth flow out of Africa even as 'aid' and 'investment' flowed in. The Congo, rich in cobalt, copper, and diamonds, has been a perennial target. The 1990s saw numerous Western