Madam - John O'Shea (Letters page, June 21st) seems keen to blame Africans for the continent's corruption problems, but in his haste neglects to mention that the West supplies much of it to the developing world.
While he cites the $148 billion lost to Africa each year through corruption, he neglects to mention the $145 billion in bribes which was paid by 294 American and European multinational corporations in the late 1990s.
He also forgets to mention the West's role in facilitating corruption.
Transparency International estimates that $1 trillion is laundered through western financial institutions each year.
If the cause of corruption is opportunity, the solution lies in transparency, education and prosecution. The UN Convention Against Corruption, not yet ratified by Ireland, would enable governments to prosecute companies engaged in corruption overseas. At the same time, people in the developing world must be supported in holding their own governments to account - the successful prosecution by Lesotho of four European firms for bribery, with little external assistance, shows the commitment of many in Africa to fighting corruption.
With more and more Irish firms announcing profits from oil and mining operations in Africa, would John O'Shea not be better off pressing the Irish Government to ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption, and by supporting anti-corruption initiatives such as the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative which is proving successful in urging governments to publish all payments and revenues from oil, gas and mining? That way, we could ensure that Irish firms operating in Africa are supplying jobs, not corruption. - Yours etc,
THOMAS GEOGHEGAN, Charlemont St, Dublin 2.