*My take: Africa’s way forward is _owning RESPONSIBILITY first,_ then _RESTRATEGIZING_ smartly.*  Blame is emotionally satisfying, but it is strategically useless.   Here’s why I think so:   *1. Blame Produces Moral Comfort, Not Power*   Blaming others—colonialism, slavery, globalization—may be historically grounded, but *it does not generate capacity*. It produces a *culture of grievance* rather than a *culture of competence.*   Nations that rise do three things: - they *tell themselves the truth*,   - they *absorb lessons ruthlessly*,   - and they *adapt faster than their competitors*.   *Blame freezes a people* in the past. *Strategy moves them* into the future. *2. Strategic Actors Don’t Apologize — They Optimize*   No civilization —Western or Eastern — ever advanced by whining for apologies but by taking responsibility to strategically optimize.  - Europe didn’t.  - The U.S. didn’t.  - China didn’t. - Singapore...