africa: U.S. Corporations Contribute to Corruption in Africa

Recently Halliburton Co. was forced to admit it paid a $2.4 million bribe to a Nigerian government official in exchange for tax breaks. Shell has a sordid history in the Niger Delta. Earlier this year, the company was ordered by the Nigerian Court of Appeals to pay the Ogoni people approximately $2 million for environmental damage. The story is an old one. The people are poor while corporations and government officials grow rich on the natural resources that should bring benefits to the poor.