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Powering Africa

When Obama visited the poorest nations in the poorest continent (Africa) and promised to double electricity output by pledging $7 billion to "Power Africa," I instantly knew how that money was going to be utilized: It wasn't. 1.7% of the $7 billion has been utilized to date! WOW!

You can't invest a nation with the kind of corruption that's plaguing their government and expect these corrupt individuals to spend the $7 billion appropriately! What the US did is give Africa's corrupt a $7 billion check. "Here you go. Spend it wisely!"

 I'm all for helping the underprivileged, but do so in a responsible manner. Pledge $7 billion but send in your own team, your project managers, to recruit and build a team in Africa which will carry out the build; then send your accountants to keep track of every last penny spent. Once that's done, more money can and should be invested in helping out a nation that desperately needs it.

 On the other hand, it's difficult to fathom that a country that can control domestic and foreign currencies, devise a plan to sanction Russia and hit them with a $100 billion per year penalty, control oil prices on a global scale, would act so irresponsibly with such a large sum of money. I wonder if the money went to Africa at all.

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