In the first 2 Parts of this series, we established 2 uncomfortable but necessary truths.

First, Power Precedes Rules.
Rules function best when Power is Balanced. When it is not, rules bend, selectively apply, or quietly disappear.

Second, Development can Become Leverage when Asymmetry exists. Capital, Infrastructure, and Financing do not automatically reduce vulnerability. In the wrong sequence, they amplify it.

This 3^rd piece asks a harder question:

How Does that Leverage Actually get Built in Practice?

• Not in Theory.
• Not in Ideology but…
• In the Real World, through mechanisms that often look reasonable, even benevolent, on the surface.

The Pattern, Not the Villain

Before naming sources or stories, it’s important to recognise the pattern.

It usually unfolds like this:

A Country reaches an Inflection Point.
A Discovery is Made.
A Crisis Emerges.
An Opportunity Opens.

Capital is offered Quickly, often at scale.
Infrastructure Follows.
Forecasts are Optimistic.
Growth is Projected Confidently.

To All African’s does it rings a bell so far…

The Narrative is Compelling:

• “This will unlock Development.”
• “This will Modernise the Economy.”
• “This is a Win–Win Partnership.”

And sometimes, parts of it are true.

The issue is not intention.
The issue is Structure.

Where Influence Quietly Enters

Influence does not arrive with Flags or Soldiers. It arrives through Contracts, Assumptions, and Sequencing.

Key features tend to repeat:

• Debt Tied to Future Revenues, often from volatile commodities
• Large, Complex Projects that exceed local oversight capacity
• Foreign Contractors who receive most of the capital flows
• External Arbitration and Currency Exposure
• Timelines that Favour Speed over Institutional Maturity

Individually, none of these is alarming.
Collectively, they narrow a country’s room to manoeuvre.

Choices become constrained Not by Force, but by Obligation.

A Confession Worth Reading Carefully

This is where the works of John Perkins enters the discussion.

For those who don’t know, John Perkins claims to have operated inside such a system. His account describes professionals tasked with promoting large loans and infrastructure projects in developing countries, structured around aggressive growth projections. The capital, he argues, often cycles back to foreign firms, while the recipient country absorbs long-term debt and dependency.

Perkins goes further, alleging that when Leaders Resist, Pressure Escalates: Persuasion, Inducements, Political Destabilisation, and in Extreme Cases, Force.

Whether one accepts every detail of his account is beside the point.

The value of Perkins work lies elsewhere.

It Maps a Mechanism that aligns disturbingly well with observable outcomes across decades and continents.

Why This Resonates Even Without Full Acceptance

You do not need to believe every claim to recognise the architecture.

• Debt dependency is measurable.
• Policy conditionality is documented.
• Strategic concessions tied to financing are real.
• Forecast bias in frontier projects is well studied.

Even if Perkins’ account were only partially accurate, the Systemic Risk Remains.

And systems matter more than anecdotes.

Africa’s Familiar Position in This Architecture

Africa has often encountered this architecture at moments of promise.

New Resources.
New Markets.
New Urgency.

But Urgency is precisely when leverage forms most easily.

When Institutions are still Developing, when Technical Capacity lags Ambition, and when Political Pressure to deliver results is High, countries are most vulnerable to Locking in Constraints that only become visible years later.

This is not Exploitation by Design.
It is Asymmetry by Default.

Why Namibia Must Pay Attention

For Namibia, the Relevance is Immediate.

As discussed in Power Still Matters (Part I & II), Namibia’s Oil & Gas potential places it squarely in the Global Spotlight. That attention brings Opportunity, but also Exposure.

The Risk is not Bad Actors.
The Risk is Misaligned Sequencing.

If financing, contracting, and governance move faster than national capability, leverage embeds itself quietly. Once embedded, it is extraordinarily difficult to remove without cost.

The Core Insight: Optionality Is the Real Asset

Small states do not protect themselves by rejecting partnerships.
They protect themselves by preserving Optionality.

Optionality means:

• Contracts that Assume Volatility
• Institutions Built before Scale
• Diversification of Partners
• Transparency that Slows Pressure
• Patience that Frustrates Urgency Narratives

This is not Ideological Resistance.
It is Strategic Maturity.

Why This Article Exists

This piece is NOT a Warning of Conspiracy.
It is a CALL for Pattern Recognition.

Power today Operates Through Systems, not Declarations.
Influence Flows through Finance, not Flags.
And Dependency often looks like Progress at First Glance.

Understanding that Architecture does not make a Country Cynical.
It makes it Prepared.

And as history repeatedly shows, Prepared Countries Survive Moments that Overwhelm the Unprepared.

In the final analysis, help is not the danger.

Unexamined Help Is.

Please note:
I don’t think for one second that my account is a definitive account.
I offer it no more than an opening round in a conversation that I hope

End