out in practice, has too often been that a small group of rich powerful
white foreigners is replaced or (more often) supplemented by a small
group of rich and powerful black nationals (as Fanon long ago foresaw
([1961] 2005). Angola is an especially clear example—Â�a state whose vast
oil riches, and the state corporation that is granted the rights to them, are
proudly declared to belong to “the people” even as a tiny elite divvies up
the spoils with transnational corporations, leaving the majority to struggle
in abject poverty (cf. Ferguson 2006, 194–210). One can, if one wishes,
think of this as “black economic empowerment,” but those thereby empowered
are very few, and the majority of the population may find little
in it to celebrate.