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This essay explores a Ponzi scheme that was all the rage in Lomé in 2010 (and again in 2012-2013), a scheme that condenses many of the desires and cultural imaginaries of the contemporary moment. A hope machine—it was called ReDéMare (“start over,” “re-ignite”)—this Ponzi drew energy from a collapse in value registers, both economic and political, while seeking to transform a foreclosed present (and sordid past) into a miraculous future. While future-oriented, it also suggests a longing for a time when things were more certain and predictable—a time when civil servants received their salaries with regularity, when fraudsters on the street were less common, when everyone hustling everyone else was not the order of the day. The future’s past, as it were.