It is not often that we see political leadership act courageously to uphold principles of good corporate governance, which makes a recent decision taken in the United States - one of critical importance to Africa - worth stopping to savour.
Last month the Securities Exchange Commissioners of the United States (the SEC) voted 2-1 to uphold regulations which will force all companies listed on American stock exchanges, numbering about 1,100, to declare payments of more than U.S. $100,000 to foreign governments - with no exceptions allowed.
The regulations give force to the law known as the Cardin-Lugar Extractives Transparency Amendment, which is part of the wider financial reform law passed after the 2008 global financial crisis, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
The importance of the new legal regime is best articulated by Najwa al-Bshti, former Head of Contracts at the National Oil Company of Libya.
In a New York Times article on the implications of the change, she states: "We need to ensure that bidding is fair and open, the deals are transparent and revenues are used properly. Public disclosures and legislative oversight of contracts and payments are crucial."
She adds that laws which allow exemptions if a foreign government objects are a tyrant's veto. If anybody knows where the bodies are buried, she does.
The real challenge now is to work to ensure that similar legislation is enacted in Europe and beyond. We cannot and should not allow this legislation to stand alone and effectively disadvantage U.S. exchanges and listed companies.
European leaders love to lecture Africans on corruption and accountability. It is now time for them to practice what they preach.
Emerging powers should also come on board. China, in particular, has always maintained that it is a great friend and partner of Africa. It is time to demonstrate its friendship and to clarify whether theirs is a friendship with African people or with only a handful of corrupt dictators.
More to the point, we need to ensure that we in Africa are enacting similarly transparent legislation. If we are to ensure that good governance - covering all aspects of transparency, corporate and social responsibility - becomes the norm in Africa for all foreign investors and African governments, it can only be achieved through domestic legislation.
This SEC ruling, and the hard work of the U.S. senators and congressman responsible for the reforms that underpinned it - Senator Chris Dodd, Representative Barney Frank, and Senators Benjamin Cardin and Richard Lugar - has shown the way. Which of our leaders will now have the courage to follow suit?
Mo Ibrahim founded the African mobile operator Celtel International and now chairs the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which promotes good governance and leadership in Africa.
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Yes, all companies listed on the stock exchange in the United States will declare payments over $100,000 to foreign governments with no exceptions unless you are a company that has backed politicians repeatedly. Why would the Securities Commission be allowed to enforce such laws against companies that have very close ties with politicians? This is a meaningless law ultimately. I agree with the previous poster that if the United States were serious about fighting corruption, there would be prosecutions of those involved in the 2008 financial crisis or banking scandals that took place in 2011 and this year.
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I RESPECT MR. IBRAHIM TREMENDOUSLY BUT AS FAR AS THE USA IS CONCERBNED THEY ARE NOT THE PILLARS OF HONESTY AS THEY ARE RIFE WITH CORRUPTION". THESE TWO ACTS BY THE SEC ARE NOT TRULY A GAME CHANGER ,THEY HAVE EMBEDDED CORRUPTION THRUOUT THIER ENTIRE FINACIAL AND COORPORATE STRUCTURES. THE SEC IS NOT A DELIVERER OF CHANGE!! IF THAT WAS THE CASE THEN WE WOULD SEE SOME PROSECUTIONS FOR THE WHOLE SCANDOLOUS MESS THE WOLRD IS IN. WHAT I SAW RECENTLY WITH THE SEC WAS THE FACT THAT THEY WANTED TO GET PAID LIKE THE REST OF THE COMMISIONS' THAT OPERATES OUT OF THE USA. IN REGARDS TO EUROPE THEY ARE LIKE THE LITLLE PALYERS THAT GOT IN THE GAME LATE . THEY GOT A RUN WHEN THE GAME WAS ALMOST OVER. IN ORDER TO HAVE THE BALANCE THAT YOU SEEK; AFRICAN LEADERS MUST BE RESPONSIBLE TO THIER PEOPLE AND THEY ALONE SHOULD BE THE RECIPIENTS OF THIS OIL BOOM. THEY NEED STUDIOUS AND DEVOTED CHILDREN TO AFRICA!!. tTHESE ARE THE CHILDREN WHO WANTS TO SEE A RENASCIEENCE THAT IS TRULY ALL AFRICAS! THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA HAVE AN INBREDED INTUTIVE MECHANISM THAT IS ROYAL,NOBLE, MORAL, FIRM,UPRIGHT, AND RICH WITH INTEGRITY. THE WEST LIKES TO ROMANTICISE THAT THEY ARE SELLING THE REFORMSIN AFRICA, NOT SO?? THE AFRICAN PEOPLE ARE DRIVEN BY A STRONG MORALITY THAT CANNOT BE TAUGHT TO BUT CAN ONLY BE BORN WITH !!. AFRICA IS NOT ;' CONTRAY TO WHAT THE STEREOTYPES LIKE TO POTRAY AFRICANS TO BE. ONCE THE DOOR IS OPEN THEY WONT LOOK BACK THAT IS FOR SURE. THEY JUST WANT TO GET THE RIGHT TOOLS TO MOTIVATE AND PUSH A LITTLE BIT IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND THEY ARE OFF. WE NEED MORE TOP MANGEMENT JOB CREATION SO THEY NEED TO EB MORE SCIENTIST MAHTEMATICIANS SO THAT THEY WHOM ARE THE PROBLEM SOLVERS CAN GET TO WORK!!!!!ANYONE WHO STILL CLINGS TO THOSE NOTIONS THAT AFRICA IS OR WAS A DARK CONTINENT AND THAT THE PLACE OF AFRICAN BIRHT IS THIS SUB SAHARN REGION IS QUITE MSITAKEN !! THEY TOOK ALOT OF PEOPLE FROM WEST NORTHWEST AFRICA TO ENSLAVE THEM AND THESE PEOPLE WERE FAR FROM FOOLS. TODAY HISTORY SHOWS US THAT THE SAHARA DESERT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH AFRICAN GROWTH AS THERE WERE CAMELS ALL OVER AFRICA. CAMELS ARE COMMON IN WEST AFRICA . ANOTHER THING IS THE SAHARA WAS VERY FERTILE AND THERE ARE MURALS ON CAVES IN ALGERIA WITH DIPICTION OF BLACK EGYPTIANS IN THE TIMES OF FERTITLIYTY RIDING BRIDLED HORSES ;SO WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS GET THE EDUCATED FACTS OF AFRICA TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN UNDEREDUCATED ,LIED TO, AND FORCED TO BELIEVE EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE TURTH. AFRICA WAS 1 IN MOST OF ITS VERY LONG ANTIQUE HISTORY ; MY SUGGESTION IS THAT AFRICA SHOULD BE A CONVSERVATION AND HERITAGE SITE!! THEY HAVE MILLIONS OF ESCAVATIONS THAT GOES WAYWAYWAYWAY BACK IN TIME ; WE ARE SPEAKING ALL OVER AFRICA FROM MED TO CAPE WHERE CIVILIZATION UPRIGHT CULTURED CIVILITY WAS ALIVE!!!!!! COLONISATION HAD DECEIMATED ALL THE PRINCIPLES THAT WERE AFRICAS. 'LIES TOO MANY LIES' HAVE BEEN LEFT AT THE FEET OF THE BLACK MAN TO UNRIDDLE..; THIS JIGSAW IS NOT EASY , BUT WHEN YOU SEARCH YOU WILL FIND AND NOTHING ON THIS PLANET IS HIDDEN FROM THE WIZE AND PRUDENT"
I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. But only for a brief moment because it's really too sad to be funny. Are you serious? Propaganda, Disinformation, Misinformation, Bullocks, Lies, and Crap!
WARNING!!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!!! Local SA People: If the US and EU are involved, no matter how beautiful the gifts are they give you, or how free they may appear, it's an Illusion.
- Do NOT turn against your fellow man for they will try to divide you. If you allow this they conquer you. There is power in numbers. You are members of society - They are inhumane and EVIL!!!
- If they want you to have it, it is BAD; If they don't want you to have it, it is GOOD!
Remember this for the sake of your people:
- They want your water, food, air, resources; minerals, precious metals, GOLD, oil, etc... When they have destroyed your basic survival needs, stolen all of your resources, and posioned your lands, they will laugh as they watch your suffer and your children die.
- They help small farmers grow food to feed the population. The seeds they give you now will kill you later. The corn fed to livestock will make them sterile. The polinating bees will begin to disappear. And the plants will not produce seeds. - They educate dairy farmers and show them how to give vaccinations to dairy cows so they will produce more milk. Children drink the milk poisoned with hormones. - They give you medicine and shots to heal the sick and prevent disease. Cancer rates will increase, men and female will become sterile, children will suffer mental development, polio, hepatitus, HIV, will increase. - Flouride in the water is good for teeth. Flouride is a posion that calsifies bones, portions of the brain.
BELIEVE NOTHING THEY TELL YOU or TESTS THEY SHOW YOU AS PROOF OF ITS GOODNESS. It's an illusion.
Peace Be With You