Ex-Nigerian leader Sani Abacha stole millions of dollars from the country and deposited them in foreign banks
Dishonesty, immorality, decay and accepting of bribes summed up to corruption, which is an epidemic in many parts of the world including Africa.
Every year, large sums of money stolen from the coffers in Africa end up at Swiss Banks, other parts of Europe and the United States of America. Hypocrisy is a national phenomenon.
Most European leaders keep on attacking and criticizing African leaders about corruption, however; they are quite happy about what’s going on due to the benefits of the stolen money in Europe.
The exploitation of Africa has taken place in many ways by the Europeans. Slavery was the historical exploitation, whilst assisting or helping corrupt leaders to deposit money in developed countries is the modern version of exploitation.
They use that money to finance their projects while Africa wallows in poverty. Yet they tagged Africa a corrupt continent while they chose 'misappropriate of funds' to refer to their own corrupt immoral standard in Europe.
Every penny taken from state funds in Africa hinders and retards its development and it was a mark of double standards to label African leaders as corrupt, and be ready safe-keepers of looted funds.
Arguably, Switzerland has one of the best banking systems in the world and this unique system has attracted to that country's banks a chunk of global foreign financial lodgments. Unfortunately, over the years, a large number of depositors included people with dubious sources of wealth, especially from Africa.
According to a report from Global Financial Integrity, total illicit outflows from Africa between 1970 to 2008 may be as high as $1.8 trillion; Sub-Saharan African countries experienced the bulk of illicit financial outflows with the West and Central African region posting the largest outflow numbers.
The top five countries with the highest outflow measured were: Nigeria ($89.5 billion) Egypt ($70.5 billion), Algeria ($25.7 billion), Morocco ($25 billion), and South Africa ($24.9 billion).
According to an investigation conducted in Europe by a group of African journalists, many African leaders have amassed wealth in Swiss banks. In order not to be detected some of the accounts are in the names of their relatives.
In France alone, an investigation revealed that one of the leaders of a French Speaking country in Africa has 19 mansions. Further investigations revealed that he earns 15,000Euros per month. The question is how could they own houses that one is estimated to cost more than a million euros when their salary can't buy.
In Europe and America, Africans are taken for granted. An African is seen as corrupt, criminal and uneducated because of the magnitude of corruption that lays in the African sovereignty our educational certificates and credentials are considered to be fake, because in a country like Lagos and parts of Asia, one could buy a fake certificate as a doctor or dentist.
The British Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria has seized most of these documents applicants tried to use for visa application. Under the hard cane of our teachers, we were taught and forced to know mentally that “wheat from Canada, meat from Argentina, coffee from Brazil, etc, yet don’t be surprised to get “I don’t know” for an answer when you asked about 40 percent Europeans the capital town of Ghana or Sierra Leone. What do they care about Africa or interested to let them learn about the continent?.
In regard to development, Africa has a long way to go. China was nothing years back, today they rub shoulders with the advanced countries. A well-balanced economy and highly technically developed. Their success doesn’t mean that there is no corruption in China.
There is but they develop their own country. Greed doesn’t permit African leaders to know the destruction and harm they are doing to their country through corruption. The Europeans used stolen monies deposited at banks to develop their countries and call African leaders morons.
There is no way corruption will cease in Africa but there are measures that could ensure that financial institutions in Switzerland will no longer provide a safe haven for illicit wealth. The Swiss government is trying to prevent stolen assets into its banks.
This is the way to discourage the mass flow of wealth from Africa to its banking institutions. The question is, how serious are they on this issue? Time will tell. Until then Africa leader must realize the responsibility lying on their shoulders to restore the dignity of the countries they are ruling.