Alkebulanians,
Another Monday. Another NIGHT WATCH episode.
Thank you to all new paid subscribers. We are getting ever closer to our 1000 paid subscriber goal where this publication will be completely self sustaining.
This Episode
I break down four major stories shaking the continent right now.
Ghana and Ivory Coast control 60% of the world’s cocoa, yet their farmers are starving while $487 million worth of cocoa rots unsold in Ivory Coast’s ports, and multinational chocolate companies are quietly swapping in substitute ingredients rather than pay African prices.
Then I cover the 100,000 Africans who fled South Africa in 60 days and what the economic blowback looks like for South African businesses across the continent. Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have officially exited the ICC, a court that has prosecuted Africans and Global South leaders almost exclusively while no American president has ever faced charges.
And finally, a story I discovered live on air: Mauritania only abolished slavery in 1981, only criminalised it in 2007, and two lawmakers were jailed in 2025 for calling it out. How deep does Africa’s exploitation run, and who is actually protecting it?
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction: Four Stories That Will Shock You
00:22 Cocoa Crisis: Ghana and Ivory Coast’s OPEC-Style Coalition Under Attack
03:27 How the Cocoa Price Crashed 75% in One Year
05:00 Corporations Using Substitutes to Avoid Paying African Farmers
08:15 The Real Solution: Africa Must Process Its Own Cocoa
16:22 100,000 Africans Flee South Africa in 60 Days
21:15 The Economic Blowback: African Nations Push Back on SA Businesses
24:18 Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Officially Leave the ICC
27:10 The ICC’s Record: Who It Prosecutes and Who It Protects
32:22 Mauritania: Slavery Was Legal Until 1981, Criminal Only From 2007
37:35 Anti-Slavery Activists Jailed in Mauritania Today — The Full Story
