Minister Pravin Gordhan is a man of unshakeable will – one of the very few people within ANC family whose integrity is untouched - and sincerely believes that as a public servant he is obligated to fight for the soul of the nation.

Trump’s victory is partly because of his own skills, but also partly because the world is changing. We are witnessing a civilizational shift – the slow, painful death of the Western Empire. Even in rich America millions of people go hungry and without shelter. In the new world, Africa will use its own resources and ingenuity to prosper.

The most obvious example of Obama’s lack of substance was his relationship with Black Americans. His disdain and contempt for the people who loved him the most was clear to anyone who paid attention. Obama won by making himself palatable to white people while also taking advantage of undeserved Black pride.

The paralysis in the ANC and government due to the scandals that are engulfing President Jacob Zuma, his refusal to step down willingly, and his attempts to anoint a successor of his own making, and the pushback by opponents, means that South Africa will remain rudderless until at least the 2019 national elections.

An incredibly focused, dogged officer with a take-no-prisoner attitude toward corruption, Magu has played an invaluable role in the remarkable success story of President Buhari’s fight against graft. It is therefore puzzling that several months after his appointment in acting capacity as Nigeria’s anti-corruption Tzar, Magu has not been screened by the Senate for conformation at his post.

Ghana goes into a hotly contested presidential election next month. The voters expect nothing less than a free and fair poll. Key institutions such as the electoral commission, judiciary and security organs must ensure this happens. But the people themselves must also be vigilant.

Contrary to all the propaganda, Namibia’s SWAPO was a moderate Pan-Africanist party with close links to imperialism – especially the United States. This peasant-based party had a leadership that was uninterested in a determined armed struggle or the internal mobilisation of the Namibian working class. Its legacy in independent Namibia is appalling.

A protest march organised in Nairobi last week by civil society organisations demanding action against runaway corruption in government was brutally repressed by the police. Besides a series of multi-million-dollar scandals recently unearthed in Kenya, the Auditor General’s report for 2015 says only 1% of the national budget was properly accounted for.

President Kenyatta’s supporters argue that his family is filthy rich, meaning that he has no needs that would tempt him into corruption. If true, why are his relatives scrambling for public tenders under programmes set aside for disadvantaged groups? And why is the First Lady busy mobilising the nation to raise private funds to eliminate maternal and early childhood deaths through charitable events, even as public money set aside for exactly that purpose is looted?

President Zuma has suffered two major legal defeats: a fumbled state attack on Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan which was humiliatingly withdrawn by an incompetent prosecutor following a national outcry, and the release of the Public Protector’s report on the Zuma family’s corrupt relationships. Will enough pressures from below be mobilised to generate non-violent regime change in South Africa?

It now seems that with every passing quarter, there is a new financial scam being unearthed in Kenya. Despite this government being the most well-equipped to fight graft, it has turned out to be the most affected by corruption of all previous governments combined. Kenya is gradually becoming a graft cesspool. And the President admits on camera that there is nothing more he can do.

If there was one thing Nigeria needed so much at independence, it was a selfless, visionary, and nationalistic leadership that would have helped forge a nation out of the unworkable contraption left behind the British. The crisis of nationhood now lasting more than half a century can only be resolved through genuine devolution of power, so that Nigerians wherever they are will take their destiny in their own hands.

Many universities have been shut down due to student protests demanding free higher education. This is the latest expression of the deep inequalities that affect the majority Black population in South Africa. The promise of a better future that underpinned the anti-Apartheid struggle remains unfulfilled. The nation’s unjust economy must be discussed.

Ethiopia is descending into possible civil war. With the recent declaration of a state of emergency, the country is in turmoil due to exploitation of the long-suffering people of Oromia, Ogaden, Gambella and other ethnic groups by the ruling TPLF elite in partnership with international enablers such as China and the United States. TPLF exploitation and widespread repression have created highly rebellious resentment among the people.

People of goodwill throughout the world should support the Congolese people to demand that President Kabila ceases attacks against the people and respects the Congolese constitution. The world has watched the Kabila regime jail innocent youth, drive others into exile, violently repress dissent and undertake a military build up to go to war against the unarmed population as he clings to power.

Ivory Coast is in crisis. The instability arising from the post-election violence of five years ago continues to deepen. The government is increasingly repressive. Many Ivorians cannot meet the cost of living. Jobs are scarce. Insecurity perpetrated by gangs of unemployed youths makes life uncertain. Yet the government of Alassane Ouattara doesn't seem concerned with any of that. His current project is a new constitution whose barely hidden agenda is to keep him in power beyond 2020.

We live in a world which is faced with multiple, interconnected problems, such as climate change and significant environmental degradation, inequality, poverty and food insecurity, but we also have the unique opportunity to redesign and recreate sustainable futures. A whole generation of business education students will need to be engaged to think and act in a way that matches the scale of these challenges. 

President Biya does not live in Cameroon and, therefore, does not know Cameroonians. The absentee landlord spends several months in Europe with no specific agenda in mind. Once back home, he retires to his million-dollar castle to play golf and drink champagne. Biya’s inept governance has brought Cameroon to its knees. Cameroonians should rise up and replace him.

For South Africa to dismantle its colonial economic structures it will have to urgently address the knowledge and resources impasse. Through equitable distribution of wealth and resources, free decolonial education should be implemented to cater for the financially excluded Black majority now.

In the second and final part of this essay, the author argues that one cannot deny that democratic constitutionalism has had profound impacts in Ghana – civil society activism is flourishing and inculcation of democratic habits has become a normalcy. But the state of transacting political business among the dominant players has grave consequences for trust, solidarity and social cohesion.