By Lord Aikins Adusei
Quite often when you read newspapers, listen to the radio and watch television in the West, you will are bombarded with how poor and corrupt Africans are. However, you will never watch, read or hear anything in these media outlets on the role played by Western banking institutions; property development and estate companies; technology corporations; oil and mining cartels; defense and engineering companies; and Western political and business elite in promoting corruption in Africa.

When it comes to Africa and the developing world, the Western media pretend to be doing a good job only when there is an embarrassing story or a scandal that undermines their own credibility as the watchdog of the state. It is not uncommon to see poverty stricken Africans being shown in documentaries, movies, and television screens in the West but these same documentaries fail to show the involvement of Western capitalist institutions in fanning the poverty. Although corruption involves a giver and a recipient, it is always the taker who is reported in the media. In many instances, bribes are offered in order to secure contracts, secure official favour or to induce officials in order to influence the outcome of a government decision. In other instances, people become corrupt because of the existence of favouring conditions as can be seen in most Western countries with their banking secrecy laws.

Why does the media in the West ignore the role of Western institutions in corrupt deals? The media in the West tend to ignore the role of Western institutions for many reasons. They would rather show the poverty level in Africa but refuse to show the role play by Western institutions for fear of losing revenue through adverts. Most media outlets survive through advertisements from mega businesses and the multinational corporations; so, for fear of losing revenues, the media turn a blind eye to activities that border on bribing politicians, public officials and polluting the environment.

They fail to tell the world that the looted funds that make Africans poor are sitting in Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand and other offshore Islands controlled by the West. They fail to tell the world that Africa would be a different place if all the stolen monies are returned from Switzerland, Britain, America, France, Luxembourg, Austria and Liechtenstein. After years of foot dragging Swiss authorities decided to repatriate monies stolen by the Abacha regime. So I asked myself where was the western media when Swiss and British Banks were receiving the looted funds? The fact still remains that until recently and with the exception of the BBC none of the western media establishment had permanent reporters based in Africa with reason only best known to themselves.

Corruption is rife in Africa because banking institutions in Europe, especially Switzerland, France, Jersey Island, Britain, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Austria and US, among others, accept money from African leaders without questioning its source. According to the UN and the AU, around $148 billion is stolen from the continent annually by political leaders, multinational corporations, the business elite and civil servants with complicity of banking and property industries in Europe and North America.

Even though Western banks act as safe havens for looted funds, very little attention is received from the Western media to expose them. No effort has been made by the political elite in Europe and America to force the banks to return these stolen monies because they are often the shareholders and beneficiaries of the profits made by these banks. They have no agenda to combat corruption as that would mean no fat dividends for them and no cheap credits for their citizens.

Within five years of his reign (1993-98), Sani Abacha of Nigeria, according to official sources, was able to stash four billion dollars and between 12 and 16 billion dollars according to unofficial sources. After his death in 1998, investigators in Nigeria, Europe and America stumbled on over 130 bank accounts in Australia, New Zealand, London, New York, France and Switzerland among other countries where some of the money stolen was kept.

According to France24, a French police investigation alleged that Bongo and his family owned at least 33 luxury properties in France, including a villa located at Rue de la Baume, near the Elysée Palace, in Paris bought in 2007 for 18.8 million Euros.

Most foreign banks have been accused of receiving billions of dollars of looted funds from the late Mobutu of Zaire; Lansana Conte of Guinea, Eyadema of Togo; Omar Bongo of Gabon, Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea; Dos Santos of Angola; Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo, Paul Biya of Cameroon, Arap Moi of Kenya, Jerry Rawlings of Ghana; and a number of sitting and ex-presidents in Africa.

The banks in Europe and America, alleged to have aided, abetted and provided sanctuary for Abacha’s $4 billion stolen funds, are: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, ANZ, London Branch; Bank Len, Zurich; Bankers Trust Company, London; Bankers Trust Company, Frankfurt; Bankers Trust Company, New York; Banque Barring Brothers, Geneva; Bank in Liechtenstein A.G Vaduz; Barclays Bank, New York; Barclays Bank, London, Banque Edonard Constant, General; Banque Nationale De Paris, Geneva; Banque Nationale De Paris, London , Banqwue National De Paris, Basle; Citibank,N.A. London; Citibank NA, New York, Citibank N.A. Luxenbourg; Citibank Zurich; Credit Lyonnais, New York; Credit Suisse, New York, Credit Suisse, General; Credit Suisse,Zurich; Deutche Morgan Grenfell, Jersey; FIBI Bank (Schweiz) A.G Zurich; First Bank of Boston, London; Goldman Sachs and Company, Zurich; Gothard Bank, Geneva; LGT Liechtenstein Bank, Vaduz; Liechtenstein Landesbank, Vanduz; M.M. Warburg and Company  Luxembourg; M. M. Warburg and Company,Zurich; M. M. Warburg and Company, Hamburg; Merrill Lynch Bank, New York; Merrill Lynch Bank, Geneva; Midland Bank, London; National Westminister Bank, London; Paribus, London; Paribus, Geneva; Royal Bank of Scotland , Leeds; Standard Bank London Limited, London; UBS AG, Zurich; UBS AG, Geneva; Union Bancaire Privee, Geneva; Union Bancaire Privee, London; London Branch; Verwaltungs Und Private Bank A. G., Vaduz; and ANZ, New York; ANZ, Frankfurt. Only heaven knows how much of the alleged Abacha´s loot still remains in these banks. We did not hear anything about these banks in the Western media and how they purportedly helped Abacha to loot Nigeria’s resources until his death in 1998.

Apart from the banking sector, the property sector in Europe, America and Australia were alleged to have connived with the political and business elite in Africa to impoverish the people. Several African leaders have reportedly bought properties in Europe and America using monies stolen from their poor countries. It is alleged that Mobutu of DRC (Zaire) bought several villas in France, Switzerland, Belgium and many European countries.

It is common for Western companies looking for lucrative contracts to pay bribes and kickbacks to induce officials into awarding them. For example, on September 17, 2002, a Canadian firm was convicted by a High Court in Lesotho for paying $260,000 bribe to secure an $8 billion dam contract.

In 2002, Halliburton, a company once controlled by Dick Cheney (former US Vice President), was accused of establishing $180m fund and used it to bribe Nigerian officials in order to secure a $10 billion Liquefied Gas Plant contract in Nigeria.

Achair Partners (a Swiss company) and Progresso (an Italian company) have been accused of bribing Somalia’s Transition Government officials in order to secure contracts to deposit highly toxic industrial waste in the waters of Somalia. Such corrupt practices by Western companies seeking contracts in Africa are part of the reasons poverty and diseases are rife in the continent.

The catastrophic environmental damage being caused by oil, mining and timber companies in Nigeria, Ghana, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, DR. Congo, South Africa, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal do not make the news in the West.  Apart from the huge profits made by these conglomerates which we often hear in the news, do we hear also their complete disregard for environmental rules; the pollution of rivers, lakes, streams, wells, and the environment? On June 30, 2009, a report by Amnesty International, entitled “OIL INDUSTRY HAS BROUGHT POVERTY AND POLLUTION TO NIGER DELTA”, catalogued  environmental destruction and damage that the oil cartel is causing in the region.

In October 2002, after a three year investigation, a UN Panel of Experts accused Cabot Corporation (Boston), Eagle Wings Resources International, and George Forrest’s OM Group (Ohio) of arming rebel groups and collaborating with them to traffic from DR. Congo gold, diamond, timber and, most importantly, coltan (columbo-tantalite)-a precious ore essential to Sony play stations, laptop computers, and cell phones. Coltan is often spirited out of DRC to U.S., Swiss, Belgian, and German clients by Uganda and Rwanda army officers, rebel groups and through a network of criminal syndicates. Corruption and bribery in Africa and indeed the developing world could be reduced tremendously if the media, for once, put aside the pick and choose journalism and attach the same importance to show the degree of involvement by Western capitalist institutions Europe, America and Japan and their role in keeping Africans poor.

• Article first published on June 18, 2009. The author is a political activist and anti-corruption campaigner. He blogs at www.ghanapundit.blogspot.com