It’s no coincidence that one of the richest men in the Central African Republic is a politician. His name is Fidèle Gouandjika and he was a former Minister of Communications here. He likes to describe himself as “the billionaire of Boy-Rabe”.
Boy-Rabe is the neighbourhood in the Central African capital, Bangui, where Gouandjika grew up and where he now owns a lot of real estate, including a five star hotel. As the former director of the telecommunications company, Socatel, he was involved in a number of scandals. He embezzled money from the business and it ended up in his own pocket. While many people in his country are starving, Gouandjika is happy to be chauffeured around the Bangui streets in his American limousine. Like many other politicians here, he is far too accustomed to abundance.
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