As discussed in this recent Wall Street Journal article:
“The Biden administration is pushing hard for American businesses to invest in Africa despite the obstacles they face there, more than a decade after China began expanding its economic and political ties with countries across the continent.
Vice President Kamala Harris pledged [recently] in Ghana’s seaside capital to “double down” on efforts to bring billions of dollars in investments to Africa, a continent that many Western investors still view as high risk. Ms. Harris is the highest ranking in a string of top White House and Biden administration officials to travel through Africa this year, promising to unlock American investment as both the U.S. and China look to tap into the continent’s vast natural resources.
But U.S. and other Western investors often cite corruption, poor infrastructure and still rampant poverty, all of which preclude easily operating across dozens of countries that all have their own rules and market peculiarities.”
The above example is the latest example (see here, here and here for prior posts) of the U.S. government encouraging investment in a country – because it advances the U.S. government’s current foreign policy interests – while knowing full well that the country has corruption problems that could expose U.S. companies to FCPA issues.
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