From Senegal to Côte d’Ivoire, via Morocco and Rwanda, Jeffrey Epstein’s shadow stretched long across Africa. The three million documents released by the US Department of Justice on January 30 revealed that the American sexual predator and businessman, who died in 2019, used the same practices on the continent as he did elsewhere in the world to satisfy his thirst for power. He built an ecosystem in which relationships with the powerful, sometimes murky business dealings and sexual predation were all intertwined.

In West Africa in the 2010s, Karim Wade, son of Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and a major political figure, drew the attention of Epstein. Nicknamed “the minister of earth and sky” because of his super-ministerial portfolio – which included international cooperation, land use planning, air transport, infrastructure and energy – his name appears 504 times in the published Epstein files.

After their meeting in 2010, Epstein described Wade as “one of the most important players in Africa” in an email to Jes Staley, the former head of Barclays Bank. He repeatedly expressed his delight at being able to “have fun” with him. However, the documents released by the US authorities did not clarify whether Wade was involved in the sexual abuse orchestrated by the financier. His lawyer did not respond to Le Monde‘s requests for comment.

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