LEWIS Hamilton, the esteemed historian, fashion icon and driver of motor cars, has declared: ‘I’m really hoping that the people that are running those different countries all unite and come together and take Africa back. That’s what I want to see. Take it back from the French, take it back from the Spanish, take it back from the Portuguese and the British.’
He later released this exclusive statement to TCW: ‘As one drives one’s cars around and around all day, one’s mind often turns to matters of greater import. A thought occurred to me the other day that it was frightfully unfair that European countries should continue to burden the African continent with the yoke of colonial oppression. What is more, surely that burden has stymied the construction of the essential infrastructure required in civilised societies?
‘Indeed, I have always been of the opinion that had these powers not sought to crush the spirit of the indigenous peoples of that great continent I would find many locations there where I could drive my car around and around, making a great deal of noise and money. It is clear to me that these disdainful colonialists care not one jot about the need for myself and my fellow car drivers to engage in our vehicular pursuits.
‘One thinks of Bechuanaland, a beautiful territory illegally occupied by the British for nearly 200 years. It beggars belief that the Barolong and Bakwena tribes would not, in 2025, have collaborated with their Matebele cousins to construct a rudimentary circuit on which we could have driven.
‘One also considers the wonder of Rwanda, which one believes is part of German East Africa. Although it is also named the “land of a thousand hills”, it is barely conceivable that were it not for the German jackboot on their necks, the Tutsi and Hutu tribes would by now have set aside their differences and constructed a splendid arena for us car enthusiasts.
‘As for the arrogant French and their supposed love for la voiture, they rule half of the Sahara and yet they have not built so much as a dirt track. No doubt they have spent their time trying to teach the Berbers how to make a decent pastry.
‘Yes, I have a dream. I have a dream that one day in the sweltering heat of the Kalahari young African children will be able to smile at me as I race past them at 100mph. I have a dream that the sturdy women of Swaziland will lay down their shovels for a few moments to admire the sleek lines of my latest Ferrari. And, yes, I have a dream that even in tiny Gambia there will be somewhere for me to drive around and around to give the humble mango seller the chance to believe that one day he could become just like me.
‘Let freedom ring from sizzling Senegal to the sands of Somaliland. Let freedom ring from the markets of Marrakesh to the mosques of Mombasa, and let freedom ring, to the sound of screeching tyres and screaming engines, from the clear waters of the Cape to the crowded streets of Cairo.’
