UN General Assembly
2009

richest in terms of mineral and other natural resources. The sad truth is that, despite the fact that the African continent is the source of 90 per cent of the precious minerals, gemstones and strategic raw materials for the industrialized North, we Africans are the poorest of the poor. It is no fault of ours if we Africans are poor today. This situation has been brought about by the perennial invasions of the locusts and their permanent presence in Africa. They devour 90 per cent of our useful resources, from agricultural and mineral to flora 09-52425 28 and fauna. These locusts are present in all resource-rich African countries today. This devastating permanent invasion is exacerbated by another destructive phenomenon — the permanent drought that affects all African countries without exception. We cannot do anything about these two deadly scourges of the African continent. In the case of the locusts, they are protected by a one-sided international treaty imposed on all third-world countries, not only Africa. As for the drought, it is even worse, since no irrigation system in