Cheap for Us, Yet Costly for the Invisible

The people were excited. Meetings had been called, and deals had been struck. Every villager from the surrounding area had convened today to sign the contract, and government officials were present to ensure propriety. But when the Singapore-owned Golden Veroleum corporation’s representatives arrived to ready their new plantation, the villagers discovered that the conditions weren’t what they thought they had agreed to. Instead of the 108.63 acre plot Golden had described, the illiterate villagers had given up 2,195 acres — a detail which had been changed but never read aloud. And the hospitals, roads, and schools Golden had promised? A lack of deadlines meant they would likely never see the light of day (Global Witness, Macdougall).

This story is no exception. For as long as many Americans, Europeans, and Chinese can remember, they have had an unspoken agreement with corporations that they will stay silent about buying illicitly sourced products in exchange for lower prices. Golden’s meeting was held in Liberia during the height of the Ebola crisis, breaking anti-assembly laws intended to protect people from the disease (Macdougall). But the people were poor, and they took desperate actions. To allow corporations from these countries to continue to enter Africa and conduct such business is to condone a brand of capitalism that is unconscientious, if not malicious.

Foreign business in Africa is often even more illicit than Golden Veroleum’s. Consider the Congo, where armed groups fight for control of mines that produce minerals like tantalum (Global Witness). Tech firms rely heavily on it to create their products, and Apple is under scrutiny for potentially using tantalum smuggled from the Congo, which would fund armed groups that have normalized rape and displaced approximately 2.7 million people (Browning, Global Witness). While this is the status quo across the continent, efforts for change can be found in the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires multinational corporations to publicly disclose supply chains which use materials from conflict zones in the Congo and its neighbors. But new legislation will have to be introduced before these companies can be directly punished for such conduct.

While tech firms indirectly promote the use of conflict materials, others promote violence in more direct ways. When Charles Taylor, a Liberian rebel notorious for conscripting child soldiers, took control of Firestone’s rubber plantation in 1991, he convinced the company to bribe him with millions of dollars in food, money, and arms, which enabled a brutal coup on the nation’s capital (Miller). Such actions can have damaging effects on stable governments as well; $1.36 billion given to Congolese bureaucrats could have covered the country’s health and education budgets twice over (Global Witness).

The most effective solutions will come from international courts and political entities like the Kimberley Process, an international alliance that works to prevent conflict diamonds from reaching the market. But along with the ICC and the African Criminal Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Kimberley is heavily restricted by its realm of jurisdiction. While these courts have assorted jurisdictions that include rough diamond trade, genocide, crimes against humanity, and illicit exploitation of natural resources, they must be expanded to prosecute against the complex schemes that exist today (Clarke, Global Witness).

What so often allows this type of criminal activity to go unfettered is a distorted sense of morality. The productivity of these companies is weighed against the most basic needs of the peoples of Africa. In the words of Kofi Annan, "Africa loses twice as much in illicit financial outflows as it receives in international aid… It is unconscionable that some companies, often supported by dishonest officials, are using unethical tax avoidance, transfer pricing and anonymous company ownership to maximize their profits, while millions of Africans go without adequate nutrition, health and education" (Stewart).

Works Cited

Browning, Lynnley. "Where Apple Gets the Tantalum for Your IPhone." Newsweek. 04 Feb. 2015.

Web. 22 Mar. 2016.

Explains the ways in which Apple and other companies rely heavily on tantalum and

notes suspicions that despite Apple's thorough denials, their supply chain may include

tantalum from conflict zones in the Congo.

Clarke, Kamari Maxine. "Treat Greed in Africa as a War Crime." The New York Times. The New

York Times, 29 Jan. 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

An opinions column which argues that the greed of government officials, corporations

and others should be considered a war crime due to its far-reaching consequences. In

this case, greed refers to actions whose costs outweigh acquisitive benefits.

Global Witness. "Conflict Minerals in East Congo." Global Witness. 2 Mar. 2015. Web. 22 Mar.

2016.

Describes the ways in which certain sectors of the Congolese army have become

involved in and attempted to take control of trafficking of conflict minerals. Lists

recommendations that will allow international courts to hold the army accountable.

Global Witness. "Congo's Secret Sales | Global Witness." Global Witness. 3 May 2014. Web. 20

Mar. 2016.

Explains the way that Congolese president Joseph Kabila's personal friend Dan Gertler

was able to use offshore companies in the relatively unregulated British Virgin Islands to

unfairly sell and profit from assets which should have been under the equal control of the

other shareholders.

Global Witness. "Financing a Parallel Government | Global Witness." Global Witness. 11 June

2012. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

Explains how Chinese businessman Sam Pa paid the Zimbabwe secret police in order to

provide security to his holdings in the country.

Global Witness. "The Kimberley Process | Global Witness | Global Witness." Global Witness. 1

Apr. 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

Describes the Kimberley Process, an international pact working to prevent Blood Diamonds from reaching international market through a system of sanctions and agreements as well as national audits. Explains some of the weaknesses of said process.

Global Witness. "The New Snake Oil?" Global Witness. 23 July 2015. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

Supplements the New York Times article on Golden Veroleum with details about Golden's

specific agreements with villagers as well as a video with investigative interviews with

anonymous villagers explaining the conditions to which they agreed in comparison with

those stipulated in the contract. Also explains the specifics of Golden's expansion in

Liberia.

Global Witness. "Update following Financing a Parallel Government Report | Global Witness."

Global Witness. 30 Oct. 2012. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

An update on the situation of Chinese businessman Sam Pa. Explains new sanctions by

the U.S. Department of the Treasury intended to punish Pa for his crimes.

Macdougall, Clair. "Palm Oil Company Is Accused of Exploiting Liberia’s Ebola Crisis." The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Aug. 2015. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

Describes the way in which Singapore-backed Golden Veroleum exploited the

desperation of Ebola-afflicted Liberia in order to dramatically expand its territory for palm

oil production. Includes interviews with villagers explaining their current life situation and

what they hoped to receive within the contract.

Miller, T. Christian, and Jonathan Jones. "Firestone and the Warlord." Top Stories RSS. ProPublica, 18 Nov. 2014. Web. 22 Mar. 2016.

A major report by Frontline and ProPublica that explains the ways in which Charles

Taylor's rebellions in the early 1990s were largely funded by Firestone, whose plantation

he took over in 1991. Explains in detail why Firestone is partly responsible for an

indiscriminate rebellion that took many lives and destabilized Liberia.

Stewart, Heather. "Annan Calls for End to 'unconscionable' Exploitation of Africa's Resources." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 09 May 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.

Quotes former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his appeal to David Cameron to punish British corporations for their corrupt actions in Africa.