Some of the world’s greatest cultural and historical treasures are housed in London’s British Museum, and a significant number of them were taken during Britain’s centuries-long imperial rule. In recent years, many of the countries missing their cultural heritage have been asking for some of these items back. Benin City in Nigeria is one of those places. They've been calling for the return of the Benin Bronzes, hundreds of artifacts looted in 1897 when British soldiers embarked a punitive expedition to Benin. Many are now housed in the British Museum. And it's just the beginning. As the world reckons with the damage inflicted during Europe’s colonial global takeover, the calls for these items to be returned are getting louder and louder. (Shared via Vox)
Africa's Stolen Wealth - Paradox of Plenty. Africa has been branded by many as a rich continent and by others, a continent of poverty. Africa is blessed with a massive variety and quantities of natural resources. The continent holds around 30% of the world's known mineral reserves. These include oil and natural gas reserves, uranium, diamonds and gold. One can't help but wonder, why is it that a continent with such vast potential wealth can remain so poor, precipitating a paradox of plenty. Following extensive research on this, I share with you a phenomenon I believe is the anchor linchpin reason for the poverty in Africa. (Via Risen Africa)
Rüschlikon is a village in Switzerland with a very low tax rate and very wealthy residents. But it receives more tax revenue than it can use. This is largely thanks to one resident - Ivan Glasenberg, CEO of Glencore, whose copper mines in Zambia are not generating a large bounty tax revenue for the Zambians. Zambia has the 3rd largest copper reserves in the world, but 60% of the population live on less than $1 a day and 80% are unemployed. Based on original research into public documents, STEALING AFRICA is an investigative story of global trade and political corruption where money and natural resources only flow one way, and in the meantime poverty becomes harder to escape.