Despite attempts by leaders to clean up corruption in Africa, graft remains the order of the day in many countries, reports Chris McGreal
There was a time when Kinshasa Airport induced mild panic in all who contemplated its grubby portals. A cocktail of chaos, intimidation and outright threats usually helped denude visiting business people of their cash. Today, not only are bribes largely unnecessary, they are hardly ever asked for.
In contrast to Mobutu Sese Seko’s example of plunder, the leadership of the rechristened Democratic Republic of Congo at least pays more than lip-service to opposing graft, while conceding that until it can pay civil servants and policemen proper salaries graft will remain a problem.
If Thabo Mbeki’s much-heralded continental renaissance is ever to become a reality, Africa’s new leaders at least need to be seen to be trying to curb the corruption which has eaten at its soul. But graft remains the order of the day in many countries.
Business people seeking government contracts can routinely expect to pay through the nose in Nigeria and Kenya. The demands will be made perfectly clear, usually in the form of a “service fee” or a percentage of the contract.
The squeeze may also be put on them in Uganda and Tanzania, despite promises of better administration. However, it is likely to be rather more subtle and less demanding.
As Zimbabwe’s economy sinks deeper into the mire, corruption is infiltrating ever more into its system. What was once confined to the elite is creeping into other areas of the government. But, as in so much of Africa, it is a matter of survival for those at the bottom of the pile, as well as padding for the leadership’s already fat bank accounts and a source of political patronage.
Nigeria has long set the standard to avoid. Mobutu may have stolen then Zaire blind, but successive Nigerian military regimes and their civilian cohorts institutionalised a complex network of graft built on billions of dollars of oil revenues. Transparency International, which monitors global corruption, placed Africa’s most populous country at the bottom of the pile in last year’s index.
Despite a vigorous advertising campaign, in international news magazines and on CNN, aimed at trying to persuade outsiders that Nigeria’s military has reformed, General Sani Abacha’s government is primarily interested in ensuring that dwindling resources do not have to be shared among too many grabbing hands.
Lagos Airport was at one time almost as notorious as Kinshasa’s. The military has cleaned it up. But business people walking into a government ministry should often expect to pay, and keep on paying, if they want to be taken seriously.
While bribes in Nigeria may be commonplace, they are also illegal and expose foreign business people to the country’s notorious scams. Many would-be investors have found themselves handing over large dollops of cash to people sitting in the offices of this ministry or that only to be told the next day that no such person exists. Others, after handing over their bank details, have returned home to discover that their accounts have been looted by fax or telex.
Elsewhere in Africa, World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) pressure has forced some countries to clean up their act, at least on the face of it.
Last year, President Daniel arap Moi announced an unprecedented anti-corruption drive after the IMF and the World Bank cut off more than R1-billion in loans.
In an unusually frank admission of the extent of the graft plaguing Kenya, Moi promised the renegotiation of two massive contracts for the power sector after the World Bank questioned the tender procedure. He also pledged to clean up the tax service and the proper collection of import duties — an implicit recognition of the massive corruption at Mombasa port.
Moi was even forced to concede the extent of the notorious Goldenberg scandal in which senior Kenyan government officials and ruling party politicians are alleged to have stolen about $400-million in a scam involving gold and diamond exports. Kenya exports neither gold nor diamonds.
But anyone looking to do business with the Kenyan government can still expect to pay from the start. Long before the final percentage on the contract is handed over to the person at the top, there are their underlings to be placated along the way — unless the deal is a big enough deal to demand the boss’s undivided attention.
Graft remains a problem in Laurent Kabila’s Congo despite efforts by some in the government to clean up the system. However, most business people find it less pervasive than it was in dealing with some, if not all, senior officials. Many are surprisingly frank about their history of pocket-lining, but insist it is all in the past, if only because of the fear of getting caught. Would-be investors face a more serious problem in the government’s tendency to try and renegotiate contracts after they have been signed.
Whatever the shortcomings of African administrations, it takes two to tango. Transparency International also monitors the insidious impact of some foreign business people more than willing to pay bribes if they believe it will give them an advantage over a competitor.
According to Transparency International, West European companies — led by those from Belgium and Luxembourg — contribute most to corruption in international business. By comparison, according to Transparency International, United States business people lose out on contracts as they are less willing to pay.