Central Africa is the region with the highest concentration of authoritarian kleptocratic regimes in the world. These countries have a wealth of resources, the profits from which should have lifted millions out of poverty and improved lives across the region. Instead, the money is pocketed by a small group of powerful elites – leaders, politicians, businesspeople, and their families – who have amassed absurd amounts of wealth at the expense of the citizens they are meant to serve.
To coincide with the EU-AU summit, OCA is releasing short video stories about the effects of kleptocracy in each of these countries in the hopes that they will spark conversations and inspire citizens to act.
Kleptocracies will not be dismantled overnight, but action from above and below may convince these governments to finally do their jobs and invest in improving the lives of their citizens.
Central African countries also score particularly poorly across governance indicators, with Cameroon, CAR, Chad, DRC, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo among the countries at the bottom of the global indices, underscoring fragility in the region. OCA aims to fix that problem by providing a unique place where to find understandable stories about Kleptocracy in Central Africa and call to action against that problem.
Angola
Angola has a population of just under 30 million people (June 2019 est.), and more than two-thirds of the population falls within the definition of youth (15-35) with more than half of the total population being made up of women. The previous regime negated young people and women from actively participating in the governance of Angola. After the 38-year autocratic rule of José Eduardo dos Santos, Angola is currently experiencing a mini renaissance under the leadership of the new president João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço with many capacity programs, most training programs run by NGO’s is not specific to local resources, local needs, local talents, and aspirations.
Cameroon
Cameroon is a country in Central Africa, located between Nigeria in the north-west, Chad in
the north, Central African Republic in the east, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in the south,
the Republic of Congo in the south-east and the Gulf of Guinea to the southwest. The official
languages are French and English.
At the head of this country rich in natural resources, "throne" since 1982 Paul Biya aged 86
who runs this country without sharing. Transparency International and other annotation agencies.
Chad
Chad, is a central African country without access to the sea, which is located in south of Libya, east of Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon and north of the Central African Republic and west of Sudan. Its capital is N'Djamena. Geographically and culturally, Chad is a crossing point between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. With an area of 1, 284,000 km2, and an estimated population of 1,516,204.4 million, it is the fifth largest country in Africa. Its current president is Idriss Déby, who is in power since 1990 after a coup. He changed the constitution in 2005 in order to stay indefinitely in power. Chad is a nation well known for its civil war and several conflicts.
Congo republic
The Republic of the Congo is the fourth oil-producing country in Africa. It is nestled between
its giant homonym the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa Republic,
Cameroon, Cabinda Province (Angola) and Gabon. It was named People Republic of the
Congo from the 1963 Congolese Maoist coup to 1992. it has been through many civil war
and a coup in June 1997 where about 400.000 congoleses died.
After changing the constitution in October 2015 and holding a marred election in March
2016, the old self-servant kleptocrat, Sassou Nguesso, unleashed a brutal military
repression to stay in power.
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea ́s 28 thousand square kilometers is composed by a territory in the
mainland surrounded by Cameroon and Gabon, and the islands of Bioko, Annobon and
Corisco. It is considered the third largest oil producer in Africa and has around 1 million
inhabitants, making it the third highest per capita income country in Africa after the
Seychelles and Mauritius. However, the president and his family have squandered oil
revenues and the country's coffers to fund personal lavish lifestyles while most of its
population live in poverty. The government has an appalling human rights record and is
among the 10 most corrupt governments in the world. Equatorial Guinea gained its
independence in 1968, and since 1979 president Teodoro Obiang rules the country,
becoming one of the longest serving non-royal head of state in the world. His son,
nicknamed “Teodorín”, is the vice president of the country since 2012 and has been
prosecuted for corruption in the US, Brazil, France, South Africa or Switzerland.
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