'How to Steal from an African' depicts how Britain, by not paying what it owes to African countries and instead by bribing the governments, is keeping these potentially rich countries in absolute poverty. [video=youtube;h61nJXBBb3U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h61nJXBBb3U[/video]
Interesting thread, thanks for posting it! A couple of comments; after watching the video, I would say that Sierra Leone has been having considerable trouble recovering from their past civil war; they haven't been managing nearly as well as their southern neighbors Liberia; I imagine that they were willing to negotiate directly with these two companies for a couple of reasons: First, is that Sierra Leone still has a very poor image internationally due to how famous it became for its amputations and blood diamonds (it was the first thing the documentary commented on in fact). This imagery makes it very difficult for Sierra Leone to attract foreign investment; particularly from western countries that tend to be more risk adverse. Another issue, is that while Sierra Leone may have iron ore, once again as the documentary stated: they have very poor infrastructure. This greatly increases the cost to companies of doing business there and in terms of Iron, Sierra Leone has to compete with other African states such as Algeria, South Africa, and Mauritania; all of whom have lower operating costs. So if they want to be competitive Sierra Leone has to offer them lower tax rates than those other countries; otherwise its iron ore industry is going to remain largely undeveloped. As for the issue pertaining to the "broken promises". That is certainly something to keep an eye on, but these two companies listed have only been operation for less than a year; I'd give them time to build up a revenue flow first before they start to re-invest. At least a couple of years before we release the hounds on them.
The plundering of African minerals and resources... Kofi Annan: Africa plundered by secret mining deals 10 May 2013 - Tax avoidance, secret mining deals and financial transfers are depriving Africa of the benefits of its resources boom, ex-UN chief Kofi Annan has said.
