Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - May 27, 2006
Last weekend he delivered a blunt message to African finance ministers gathered in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. "Corruption," he told them, "is as deadly as the HIV/AIDS virus."
African governments will never win the full confidence of investors until the continent is no longer seen as a place where money intended for public good disappears into private pockets.
Corruption is hardly limited to Africa. But the culture of bribes, gratuities, kickbacks and cronyism runs rampant in some of the world's poorest nations.
Wealthy nations pledged last year to double financial aid to Africa by 2010 and cancel the debts of some of the poorest nations. But such goodwill will dry up unless the continent and those who do business with it take dramatic action to fight corruption, increase transparency and boost accountability.
The country in which Bono spoke offers good examples of the problem and possible solutions. Nigeria has Africa's largest population and greatest oil production. Yet little of that petro-wealth make its way to the nation's 130 million people, who live on an average income of $1 a day. Nigeria ranks near the bottom of a corruption index maintained by the Berlin-based watchdog group Transparency International.
Nigeria has improved some, thanks partly to Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former World Bank vice president. Working with the United Nations, and the British government in particular, she has trimmed the country's civil service positions, balanced account books and steered more of the country's wealth to roads, schools and health care. She also helped to create an antifraud team to crack down on Nigeria's infamous industry of Internet scammers.
During the Cold War, it was common for world leaders to look the other way when unscrupulous African presidents-for-life squandered aid money, as long as the despots played ball with the West against the Soviets. Those days are over. Today donors and investors want to see accountability and stability, not excuses. The U.S. has helped that effort through its Millennium Challenge Account, which rewards nations that promote democracy and economic freedom.
Bono could have done the polite thing by avoiding talk of corruption, a touchy topic for many Third World leaders. Instead, he did them the courtesy of telling the truth.
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