The Looting Review
Mar. 31st, 2015 03:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHi,
It's been awhile since I've used this icon so let's read a depressing book.
I just finished The Looting Machine by Tom Burgis. Mr. Burgis looks at how resource-rich countries in Africa remain locked in poverty despite the riches under their feet.
The answer is pretty straight-forward: governments simply treat their natural resources as a giant piggy bank they can use to enrich themselves and their supporters. Multinational corporations show up and offer vast sums of money for mining/drilling rights. The value of these contracts is usually a fraction of the value of what the mining companies dig up, but it's more than enough money to keep government officials in power and very well off. Additionally, this reliance on resource money means that officials are more interested making deals and enriching themselves rather than responding to the concerns of their constituency.
Mr. Burgis travels around Africa and highlights the stories of several countries. From oil and diamonds to iron and limestone, everything is up for sale and very little of the money trickles down to the majority of the citizens. One organization that many of these stories have in common is The Queensway Group -- a mosaic of companies whose parent is located in Hong Kong. The group's operational structure is extremely murky. For a long time it was assumed that it was simply a front for the Chinese state, but it may simply be closely allied with them and taking advantage of those connections (in both China and Africa) to enrich its principals.
The Queensway Group forms an obvious focus to hang the narrative around. They represent China's thrust into Africa which has become very aggressive over the past 10 years. In large part this comes from their willingness to deal with absolutely anyone even when major economies in the West refuse to have anything to do with them. If you're an African dictator whose atrocities have made you a pariah -- Chinese firms are more than happy to cut lucrative deals to refill your coffers. As long as you give them access, they won't ask questions.
Still, Queensway is just the latest in a long line of multinational firms that are happy to look the other way in exchange for choice mining concessions. Many of these private endeavors have also received financial assistance from the IMF and World Bank. Despite a mandate to improve the economic well-being of people in impoverished countries, many of these loans have been gobbled up by shadow state apparatuses.
The book doesn't offer a lot of solutions. The scope of the problem is enormous and needs to be tackled on several levels from several different directions. Still, the book is a good overview of what's going on and something to think about next time you fill up your car or make a cell phone call.
later
Tom
It's been awhile since I've used this icon so let's read a depressing book.
I just finished The Looting Machine by Tom Burgis. Mr. Burgis looks at how resource-rich countries in Africa remain locked in poverty despite the riches under their feet.
The answer is pretty straight-forward: governments simply treat their natural resources as a giant piggy bank they can use to enrich themselves and their supporters. Multinational corporations show up and offer vast sums of money for mining/drilling rights. The value of these contracts is usually a fraction of the value of what the mining companies dig up, but it's more than enough money to keep government officials in power and very well off. Additionally, this reliance on resource money means that officials are more interested making deals and enriching themselves rather than responding to the concerns of their constituency.
Mr. Burgis travels around Africa and highlights the stories of several countries. From oil and diamonds to iron and limestone, everything is up for sale and very little of the money trickles down to the majority of the citizens. One organization that many of these stories have in common is The Queensway Group -- a mosaic of companies whose parent is located in Hong Kong. The group's operational structure is extremely murky. For a long time it was assumed that it was simply a front for the Chinese state, but it may simply be closely allied with them and taking advantage of those connections (in both China and Africa) to enrich its principals.
The Queensway Group forms an obvious focus to hang the narrative around. They represent China's thrust into Africa which has become very aggressive over the past 10 years. In large part this comes from their willingness to deal with absolutely anyone even when major economies in the West refuse to have anything to do with them. If you're an African dictator whose atrocities have made you a pariah -- Chinese firms are more than happy to cut lucrative deals to refill your coffers. As long as you give them access, they won't ask questions.
Still, Queensway is just the latest in a long line of multinational firms that are happy to look the other way in exchange for choice mining concessions. Many of these private endeavors have also received financial assistance from the IMF and World Bank. Despite a mandate to improve the economic well-being of people in impoverished countries, many of these loans have been gobbled up by shadow state apparatuses.
The book doesn't offer a lot of solutions. The scope of the problem is enormous and needs to be tackled on several levels from several different directions. Still, the book is a good overview of what's going on and something to think about next time you fill up your car or make a cell phone call.
later
Tom
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Date: 2015-04-11 11:51 pm (UTC)