Africa’s Geopolitics: Governance, Corruption and Global Influence

In this episode, Samo Burja and Erik Torenberg discuss Africa as the potential "next China," its corrupt governments, and Botswana's leadership example. They also touch on the Indian Ocean's geopolitical significance, what it means for the global Islamist movements and migration trends towards China, and the need for strong local governance to avoid pitfalls like civil war and kleptocracy. If you need an ecommerce platform, check out our sponsor Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/momentofzen for a $1/month trial period.

Live Players is part of the Turpentine podcast network. Learn more: https://www.turpentine.co/

We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: https://eriktorenberg.com/.

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Check out Erik's new show Request for Startups featuring a rotating cast of founders and investors sharing their requests for startups they want to exist in the world, and also their stories of navigating the idea maze in different sectors so founders don’t have to reinvent the wheel anymore. The first episode is out now - we over better dating apps, references as a service, and WeWork for productivity

• Watch and Subscribe on Substack: https://requestforstartups.substack.com/p/receipt-based-dating-reference-checks
• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/request-for-startups-with-erik-torenberg/id1728659822
• Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/739L1LR32QI2XyoZlRh5nv

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SPONSOR:

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LINKS:

Samo’s Bismarck Brief: https://brief.bismarckanalysis.com/

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TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Intro

(00:25) A backdrop for what's happened in Africa over the past 20 years

(05:26) Nigeria and Ethiopia: The benefits of continent scale without the drawbacks of politics resulting in civil war or dysfunction

(08:30) How to make the new states of Africa become wealthy while respecting individuals and no genocide

(10:00) Botswana as an example of a well-run presidential democracy

(12:40) Diamond mining in Botswana and partnership with De Beers was good for the economy

(15:20) Unpacking the impact of Nigeria's population growth on economic growth

(22:24) Sponsor - Shopify

(23:59) The bullish case for Africa rests more on the development projects of Ethiopia

(33:50) How to make third world cities first world cities

(35:44) Africa's importance in the broader geopolitical struggle among great powers

(41:10) Lessons from South Africa's deep history in the last century

(49:05) On countries becoming decolonized and independent and becoming sustainable

(54:11) Africa is a vast enough continent where the challenges faced by the regions of Africa are very different

(56:28) Wrap