Chapter 446: A Living Lei Feng Who Works for Free

Meanwhile, in the conference room of Fang Huan Investment, the atmosphere was completely different.
A strategic report on Africa was presented to Su Hao.
"...Nigeria, the world's tenth largest oil producer, an OPEC member, and also ranks among the top ten globally in natural gas reserves.
In gaming terms, this place is practically a 'perfect start' resource map."
A promised land flowing with milk and honey, a land kissed by the gods.
However, reality slapped that ideal hard across the face.
Nigeria, possessing mountains of gold and silver, was dirt poor.
The gap between rich and poor was even more exaggerated than the East African Rift Valley; endless internal strife and conflict made the people of this land live worse than pigs and dogs.
"Before, quite a few international giants saw Nigeria's oil-rich landscape and rushed in, drooling. But now, they've basically all run away crying."
"Because of internal strife?" Su Hao asked.
"Internal strife is only one aspect; what's even more disgusting is that there are more armed groups in that area than rats, specifically targeting oil pipelines to sabotage and plunder crude oil.
Especially when oil prices skyrocket, the scene is practically a nationwide frenzy, unstoppable."
Companies painstakingly extract the oil, only to have it snatched away for free by rebels or warlords armed with AK-47s.
In the end, these multinational corporations become unwitting free laborers working for others.
And the local government? Not only are they inactive, but many are actually protectors of these criminal organizations, a den of vipers, in cahoots.
Finally, foreign companies have no choice but to swallow their losses and pack up and leave.
"Moreover, even if the oil is sold, all the money goes into the pockets of Nigerian interest groups, leaving the ordinary people with nothing, not even a whiff of the residue.
Unable to survive, what can they do? They can only join various criminal organizations to beg for food.
Thus, the situation becomes a vicious cycle, getting worse and worse."
To put it bluntly, this country is rotten from top to bottom.
If those at the top had any conscience and used even a little bit of the money from oil sales to improve people's lives, the crime rate wouldn't be so outrageous, and the country wouldn't have fallen to its current state.
"Unfortunately, the top elites' monopoly on wealth has reached a pathological level; they've ruined the entire country.
The so-called internal strife is nothing more than dogs fighting over the unequal distribution of spoils."
This is a classic example of the "resource curse," and Nigeria is the most vivid textbook of this term.
Possessing mountains of gold and silver, yet the people are starving.
Over-reliance on a single resource has led to a distorted industrial structure, while corrupt politicians, like vampires, leech off the country's lifeblood until the last drop of blood is drained.
"However, if we're talking about something truly awful, Somalia is even worse.
That place not only boasts astonishing oil and gas reserves, but also uranium, iron, and copper mines—it's like an unopened super-sized gift package.
Unfortunately, not a single one has been developed yet."
"I've heard its fishery resources are also extremely rich, among the world's top fishing grounds?"
"That's right. But the problem is, that place is a living hell.
Pirates are everywhere, warlords run rampant, and criminal organizations are as numerous as hairs on a cow; it simply doesn't have any conditions for development."
Since the collapse of the previous government, it has been in a state of anarchy.
Now, after finally managing to cobble together a central government, everything except the capital is controlled by a massive rebel group called "Al-Shabaab."
Somalia, yet another cursed land of opportunity.
The United Nations once tried to help, but was badly burned and ultimately had to leave, giving up entirely.
"Plus, with the ongoing global economic crisis in recent years, developed countries are overwhelmed with their own problems and have no time to deal with these messes, leading to an increasingly dire situation."
Su Hao sighed softly after listening.
"It seems that the road ahead for our shipping industry to operate safely is fraught with difficulties."
“Yes.” Lin Fan’s expression was also grave.
“Although we’ve reached a cooperation agreement with one of the warlord factions, it’s hard to say whether we can truly win them over and make them obey us in the future.”
These words made Su Hao’s heart sink slightly.
He didn’t want to see the company plunge headlong into this mess, burning through countless sums of money, only to end up dragging their shipping business into an abyss of no return, instead of solving the security issue.
“Chairman Su, this is our PMC’s list of applicants. The response has far exceeded expectations; we’ve received a huge number of resumes.”
Lin Fan handed over a thick folder.
“We’ve already done a preliminary screening, and those remaining are the most outstanding candidates.”
“Oh? So enthusiastic?” Su Hao was somewhat surprised.
“Yes, I didn’t expect it to be this popular. And many of them have official backgrounds; quite a few are ruthless figures who retired from top intelligence agencies like CAI and MI6.”
Su Hao took the list and casually flipped through it.
Sure enough, the rumors in the industry were true; PMC was indeed a popular re-employment base for retired top agents from CAI and MI6.
Several people on the list had resumes that shone with the dazzling aura of “former intelligence officer.”
“…”
Asking Su Hao to look through these cryptic resumes and judge who was talented was pure nonsense; he didn’t have that ability.
However, his intuition worked.
Su Hao slowly closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them.
In an instant, in his eyes, the lines of names seemed to be electrified; some were dim and lifeless, while others, like neon lights in the night, suddenly burst into dazzling light.
He picked up his pen and precisely circled each name that shone brightly, then handed the list back to Lin Fan.
“Recruit people based on this list.”
“Uh…no need for interviews?” Lin Fan was a little confused.
“No. We’ll meet them after they join the company and assign them their positions.”
“Then…okay, I’ll arrange it.”
“Okay, thank you for your hard work.”
Although Su Hao felt a little guilty for dumping so much work on Lin Fan, the feeling of having everything under control, watching the pieces fall one by one on the chessboard, made him feel much more at ease.