![]() ![]() There are plenty of suspects to blame: corrupt dictators, criminal arms dealers, cynical multinationals and unscrupulous middlemen. ![]() Economists now call it “the resource curse”, the perverse effect of globalisation that inserts Africa’s minerals in our mobile phones and brings its oil to our petrol stations while inflicting misery and destruction on the people whose lands yield these riches. At first it was explained by colonialism, then by the Cold War. Poverty in the midst of plenty: this paradox has endured in Africa from decolonisation to the era of ostensibly democratic states. His first book, The Looting Machine: Warlords, Tycoons, Smugglers and the Systematic Theft of Africa’s Wealth, uncovers the secretive networks that control Africa’s natural resources and fuel its conflicts. He was previously the FT’s West Africa and southern Africa. Tom Burgis is the Financial Times’ investigations correspondent, covering business, politics, corruption and conflict. ![]()
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