It is not in dispute that corrupt leaders and public officials in Africa have been the main actors in the entrenchment and proliferation of state corruption. But it is also true that they have found ready associates and accomplices in profit driven Western multinational firms and an ambivalent international capitalist economic system – one in which Western creditor countries and International Financial Institutions (IFIs) are continually willing to grant dubious loans to corrupt and unpopular African regimes which are subsequently misappropriated. The two sides to the legacy of state corruption in Africa must be addressed in the quest for a lasting solution to the problem.
