This book could well have been entitled, "Tares and stepping stones in Africa». In this first essay, which is far from being a compilation of rants, he starts from an observation, dissects the evil that gnaws at a good part of the continent, without hiding its causes, but goes beyond, proposing solutions. As he has never ceased to show, it is a way of making his contribution to make up for the current delay in Africa, in terms of structuring projects, transformation industries... The observation of a paradoxical destitution of a continent, yet rich in raw materials, rich in its youth and its history... is a leitmotif for him.