Hypocrisy charge dogs Blair rescue plan for Africa

29 March 2005

NAIROBI: A trail of looted diamonds, greased palms and suspect arms deals suggests Britain is betraying its calls for action by other rich nations to stop shady corporate dealing in Africa, activists say.


British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched a detailed plan devised by his Africa Commission this month to reverse the continent's descent into poverty, including measures to ensure foreign firms do not profit from war and corruption.

However, critics say Britain has failed to meet previous commitments to clamp down on activities from bribery abroad to dubious deals in African conflict zones, casting it as laggard rather than leader in enforcing corporate responsibility.

"It's a big contradiction," said Laurence Cockcroft, chairman of Transparency International's British chapter. "The government is seriously deficient in meeting the strategy and targets identified in the commission's report."

Blair aims to use Britain's presidency of the Group of Eight rich nations this year to win backing for his Africa plan, which also calls for a doubling of development aid and big policy shifts on trade to open markets to Africans.

Unless Britain reins in the more unsavoury activities of its businessmen in Africa, it may lack the moral authority to win meaningful backing for its plan.

"They've taken very much the usual line of protecting our companies at any cost," said Patricia Feeney, executive director of Rights and Accountability in Development, an Oxford-based advocacy group. "They've not shown any sign of really taking their own medicine."

AdvertisementAdvertisementJust before the Africa Commission launched its findings, a group of British members of parliament tabled a report on the government's "slow progress" in investigating British firms accused of profiteering from a five-year war in Democratic Republic of Congo in which millions died.

A UN panel of experts listed 18 British-based firms among 85 companies accused of helping to fuel the conflict through activities such as trading looted diamonds, or securing lucrative contracts with warlords.

The MPs' report says British investigators have been hampered by a lack of resources, saying they have so far only issued public statements on two of the cases.

One statement said allegations against diamond giant De Beers were unsubstantiated, while the other urged Avient Ltd, which supplied crew for a Congolese government Mi-24 attack helicopter, to "respect the human rights of those affected by their activities".

"The experience in Democratic Republic of Congo demonstrates that the system at present fails miserably to hold anyone to account when there has been wrongdoing," British MP Norman Lamb said in remarks sent to Reuters.

Britain came in for more criticism a week after the Africa Commission report was published for its failings in cracking down on bribery by its firms abroad - precisely what the commission recommended rich countries do.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) issued a report saying not a single firm or person has been prosecuted since its anti-bribery convention came into force in Britain in 2001, citing a lack of political will and resources.

Hennie van Vuuren of South Africa's Institute of Security Studies said some British firms were even seeking to loosen the OECD's guidelines on conduct abroad.

"It's almost unbelievable that in the 21st century British companies are seeking a return to a system that encourages endemic corruption," he told Reuters.

Allegations of British connections have made headlines in Nigeria, where the government is investigating the TSKJ consortium over accusations it created a slush fund for bribes funnelled through a British lawyer.

Campaigners also point to a U-turn over tough new rules the British government adopted in May last year to ensure big deals like arms sales or major infrastructure projects underwritten by the state were not tainted by sleaze.

Transparency International says the government watered down the new rules governing its Export Credit Guarantee Department in November under pressure from firms like defence giant BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and the British unit of Airbus. The rules are under review.

"There are very serious loopholes," said Susan Hawley, a researcher with the British-based Corner House pressure group. "They wanted less scrutiny to their commission payments to agents, which everyone knows is the main route through which bribes are paid."

The Africa Commission also called for tighter control of the arms trade to stem the flow of weapons fuelling African conflicts, a field in which Britain has a mixed record.

Researchers say Britain has tightened up on some aspects of arms dealing, although London approved sales of weapons to Nigeria and Ivory Coast in 2002, where security forces have repeatedly been accused of abuses.

Campaigners also criticised Blair's government for approving the sale of $US40 million air traffic control system to impoverished Tanzania by BAE Systems in December 2001, saying the kit was both extravagant and obsolete.

Hoping to take a lead on the arms issue, British Foreign Minister Jack Straw called this month for the world's biggest arms exporters to agree a new treaty to control weapons sales, pledging to put it on the G8 agenda.

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