African Scholar Joshua Maponga Slams Western Exploitation of Africa and Resource Extraction
June 8, 2026
Joshua Maponga, Zimbabwean author and cultural philosopher, delivered a message that resonated far beyond Africa.
His criticism was not aimed at the continent.
It was aimed at those who have spent centuries profiting from it.
“You dig up Africa and leave.”
From gold and diamonds to oil, cobalt and rare minerals, Africa has supplied immense wealth to the world while many of the communities where those resources originate continue to face poverty, underdevelopment and exploitation.
Maponga accused foreign powers and corporations of treating Africa as a warehouse of resources rather than a partner in progress.
Who controls Africa’s resources.
Who profits from them.
And whether the continent’s future will continue to be shaped by outside interests or by Africans themselves.
The era of extraction without accountability is increasingly being challenged.
And voices like Maponga’s are making sure that challenge is heard.
SHARE HIS WORDS.
Source: @newstotrust
#Africa #JoshuaMaponga #Zimbabwe #PanAfricanism
English Script:
Joshua Maponga: You come to Africa, you dig up the whole place and leave. Mining dams, poisoning rivers with cyanide, only to bring the gold and put it in a warehouse somewhere here you call a fortune. You come to Africa, you kill animals only to collect the horns and leaving the meat to rot on the ground. Are you okay? And then when they see us putting on skins like this. Don’t look like they are conservationists. “No. You can’t be putting animal skins”, but you are sitting on the leather chair with leather shoes with a leather belt. Are you okay in your head? With a leather car? What kind of hypocrisy is that? You pollute the whole world with carbon. Then you come around and say, please, let’s do some green energy. Shut your industries up. If you’re talking about green energy now, you have lied to us for too long and the honeymoon of lies is over.
