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When Success Becomes a Collective Asset
In communities where economic success remains rare, someone who climbs the social ladder can quickly become more than just a prosperous individual: they become an informal institution.
Flashmag! Issue 176 September 2026
They serve as the bank, the employment agency, the emergency service, the professional network, and sometimes even the social safety net for those around them. There is nothing shameful about this solidarity. In environments where institutions provide only imperfect protection for citizens, family and community networks often play a vital role. Afrobarometer points out, in fact, that access to public services remains difficult for many African citizens and that these difficulties particularly affect poor people and young people. But solidarity can change in nature. The day we stop saying:“ Teach me what you know” and start saying:“ Since you’ ve succeeded, let me benefit from your position,” success gradually ceases to be an example and becomes a source of privilege. That is when a community can celebrate its elites to the hilt while emulating very little of their methods. People admire the car but rarely the balance sheet. They take pictures of the house but don’ t ask how the loan was obtained. They admire the minister’ s suit but not necessarily the years of study that preceded it. They celebrate the millionaire soccer player without translating his journey into rigorous sports schools, academies, professional agents, physical therapists, managers, or investors. The result is strange: we have heroes, but not always systems capable of producing their successors.
Six thousand kilometers from Paris, the same scene
In an imaginary African country we’ ll call Kimbala, Emmanuel has just been appointed director general of a public institution. His village celebrates the news for three days. The elders call him on the phone.
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