The following is an edited transcript of the remarks by Adama Coulibaly, as translated from the original French, to the July 31, 2026 EIR Emergency Roundtable, titled “Solve the Immigration Crisis with Development—What You Need To Know About the Strategic Significance of Pope Leo’s Encyclical.” Mr. Coulibaly is the former Chief of Staff to the Burkina-Faso Minister of Communication and current executive director of the China-Burkina Faso Independent Research Center (CRI-CB). The video is available here.

For several decades, the world has been experiencing a migration crisis. Whole populations and individuals, entirely against their will, find themselves leaving their homelands and countries, due to political and humanitarian crises. This is uniquely visible in several African nations that have endured wars, political turmoil, droughts, and famines. This exodus primarily affects young people who leave their countries for new horizons in search of an “El Dorado” and a better tomorrow. On this path of forced exile—which is frequently perilous—many lose their lives at sea in makeshift boats or perish in deserts from thirst and starvation. They risk everything believing they will find what their own governments failed to offer them: decent work, healthcare, and adequate training.

Today, more than ever, the world must lend an attentive ear to the first encyclical of May 15, 2026, by Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas. As Pope Leo emphasizes, the global community must speak with a single voice to seek peace and focus its actions on the terrible problem of forced migration, which has evolved into a global scourge.

Echoing the narrative of Pope Leo XIV, Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute, strongly denounces the treatment of migrants, refugees, and people forced to displace due to poverty, violence, climate change, and environmental disasters. This is the exact harsh reality faced by the populations of the Sahel in West Africa. The peoples of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have been plagued by terrorism for decades, forced to abandon their land and belongings to seek refuge in safer regions. Others have crossed into neighboring countries like Côte d’Ivoire to rebuild their lives far from their homelands.

Yet, Africa possesses enormous potential to offer its youth a brighter future. What is fundamentally lacking is visionary leadership among political figures who are undermined by corruption, financial mismanagement, patrimonialism, and lifelong rule achieved through rigged elections. An African head of state once dared to claim: “We don’t organize elections just to lose them.” In Africa, there are still leaders worn down by time and power, incapable of even standing on their own two feet, who nonetheless cling desperately to governance. When death finally takes them away, their children step in to inherit the power left behind by the father. Examples of this are legion.

To stem the migratory flow of young people to other continents, Africa must learn to process its own local agricultural products and natural resources, such as gold, diamonds, manganese, cobalt, and more. To achieve this, the continent must establish an effective educational system to train competent professionals capable of driving African modernization. Africa needs leaders who genuinely think about the development of their countries, rather than leaders who prioritize their own enrichment and that of their immediate families and inner circles.

In conclusion, we wish to pay tribute to the Schiller Institute and its president, Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche, for their courageous stance in favor of a peaceful world free of refugees and forced migrants. In this world created by God, everyone deserves to live happily, for no one came into this world merely to be a bystander to others. The potential in Africa is immense for creating a world that delivers “a billion jobs, zero refugees, and zero war.”