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Civil servants imprison Permanent Sec. over unpaid Christmas bonuses

By Julian Harris
January 6th, 2010 at 12:35 pm | 2 Comments | Posted in International Politics

permsecIn Nigeria, that is.

AllAfrica.com has the whole story.

My favourite parts:

“The demonstrating staff locked all entrances leading into the Ministry … and switched off all the lights, thereby preventing the use of the lift”

“The Permanent Secretary was sighted moving about in his office, fanning himself with old copies of newspapers and making frantic phone calls.”

“Some of the demonstrating workers … said they were demanding Sallah, Christmas and New Year gifts from the management.”

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Aid “for Trade” is pointless amid corruption

By Timothy Cox
January 5th, 2010 at 12:35 pm | 2 Comments | Posted in Economics, International Development

africacorruptionWhile funds continue to be pumped into Africa through Aid for Trade programmes (to the tune of $9.5 billion in 2007), African governments continue to stifle their own businesses by imposing restrictions upon the movement of goods through the region.

A recent article in the Vanguard News (Lagos) details how debilitating delays to traffic are caused by Nigerian government officials extorting money, in the form of taxes and fines, from traders. It’s a common story, has even become a stereotype of much of the continent, yet sadly remains true. This heavy handed government action renders Nigerian businesses uncompetitive–delaying their goods and increasing their costs compared to foreign competitors.

Historically, the response of the government in Nigeria has been to increase import duties to “protect” their domestic industries. This results in higher prices for the average Nigerian as they have to pay more for their goods and services. The sad irony is that the reason many Nigerian businesses aren’t competitive in the first place is because of these detrimental government interventions in their business activities. Thus the vicious cycle continues–businesses crippled by their own governments plead for further protection against competition from abroad.

African governments need to stop looking to aid agencies for hand-outs and start allowing domestic companies to do their good honest business.

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