Corruption is a worldwide problem. In most cases, it is associated with developing countries for convenience. It would be fraudulent on my part to represent the Developing World against charges of corruption. But the story is never complete when we only refer to a developing country like Ghana or Nigeria as corrupt. That means we are only looking at one side of the coin. Multi-national Corporations (MNCs) with roots in the Developed World have an overarching role in the procreation of this disease in the Developing World.
Big Western companies have the resources to hire experts who can cope with the bureaucratic hurdles normally characteristic of most African countries and obscure rules of play.
I am familiar of the situation in most African countries. Local entrepreneurs fight and give up in securing land and other licenses to start operating businesses, while International Corporations can work around the system overnight and be in business the next morning. They have the means to “oil” the administrative machinery and speed up long drawn-out decision-making processes.
These corporations are not only infecting our system with the disease that we’ve been fighting for decades, in fact, some of them are directly or indirectly responsible for civil unrest and wars.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), it is estimated that nearly five million people have died in wars, the primary drive of which is the fulfillment of the Western economies and people’s unquenchable craving for high-quality jewels and precious minerals such as diamond. Where do the rebels get their arms from? They are surely not locally made.
The educated elite in Africa benefit from this serfdom. This has become a war of attrition. The system of corruption propagated by MNCs in collaboration with African politicians has become a type of civil war in which the man or woman on the street cannot distinguish between a friend and a foe. They know that these corporations and their local leaders are making fortunes but they see none of the benefits in their everyday lives. Gold and diamonds from Ghana, diamond from the DRC, oil from Nigeria, cocoa from Ivory Coast and the list goes on, but a tin of milk is a luxury to most families.
It is easy for richer countries to attribute African development problems to corruption by African leaders. That does not tell the whole story. In order to comprehensively and candidly address the problem of corruption in Africa, we need to confront the role Multi-National Corporations play in the business. Western governments should address this problem because it is an open secret. The Western media needs to do a better job covering the corporations doing business in Africa.