Ethics Under Scrutiny: “Stealing Africa” Documentary

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
Reference

Introduction

The documentary “Stealing Africa | Why Poverty” explains how the West keeps Africa impoverished. From the video, several ethical and moral lapse points emerge. Watching this documentary made me question humanity and how far people are willing to go because of greed. The video illustrates the self-centered decision-making approach taken by the West, where it only considers its interests, even at the expense of human lives.

Main body

One lapse in morality is demonstrated by the inequality experienced in Zambia. Zambia is a country with the largest copper reserves in Africa, yet it is ranked among the poorest twenty countries in the world (The Why Foundation, 2013, 04:31- 04:41). Copper is an essential mineral in the world economy and is controlled by multinational cooperations that obtain more than twenty-nine billion dollars a decade from its extraction (The Why Foundation, 2013, 04:24). Many individuals think that western countries are too generous to developing countries, such as Zambia. In reality, poor countries can generate ten times more money than they receive in foreign aid.

Insider trading is yet another ethical lapse observed in the documentary. Despite the price boom of copper, Zambia remains poor because the multinational corporations owning the copper mines have subsidiaries worldwide to trade with each other. In this process, the subsidiaries manipulate the prices for accounting purposes, thereby creating a huge, untaxable profit since it is off the books (The Why Foundation, 2013, 09:21- 09:35). People in power also commit fraud and corruption to enrich themselves through copper trade. The perfect example is Mark Rich, who laundered close to $100 million, sent it to offshore accounts, and traded it with Iranian enemies. Mark Rich and his lawyer proffered a one-time payment to call off the case. Former Zambian President Chiluba was another culprit of corruption and misappropriation of funds. He was in a scheme to steal from the republic and breached a fiduciary duty.

Most of these moral and ethical lapses are inappropriate and unethical. When copper prices hit rock bottom and Zambia desperately needed investors, the leaders decided to privatize Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) (The Why Foundation, 2013, 23:37- 23:51). This was not an advisable or fair move because the foreigners put Zambia in a desperate situation to rescue itself and please investors. Consequently, Zambia needed international investment to create more jobs after privatization. By privatizing the ZCCM, Zambians’ freedom of choice was violated because the nationals were not given time to calculate the cost of their national assets. However, companies also have rights, one of them being the right to buy or sell property.

Conclusion

As a business leader, I would update antibribery and anticorruption policies and conduct due diligence to ensure all parties meet these standards. Additionally, I would ensure that the culprits are punished in a way that they serve as an example to the rest. I would also require frequent checks and inspections of financial statements by local and international auditors to ensure that the prices recorded in the books are accurate. In general, African business and political leaders have a part to play in protecting the continent from the predatory practices of the West.

Reference

The Why Foundation. (2013). Stealing Africa ⎜Why poverty? ⎜(Documentary) [Video]. YouTube. Web.

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Ethics Under Scrutiny: “Stealing Africa” Documentary

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