Bribes and Investors

When I came to Kenya I planned to never give a bribe; its just part of our "religion" as westerners that we take for granted (nevermind that at the highest levels of government everywhere quid pro quo is the norm).

Then I joined a business group in Kenya known for its high ethical standards. We visited eachothers businesses. All them were doing better than me and older than me.

It's not that some of them gave bribes. All of them did, and they were often very clever about it. Almost a core competency....

And was this really so bad? Imagine you're driving a truck of food to starving people and a police officer asks for $1. Would it be amoral NOT to give something small?

And considering democracy came on a boat and people back then had a perfectly well functioning system of giving something to the local chief who protected the area. Is backlash against quid pro quo neo-colonialism?

Bribes in the US only become important at the level of Boeing, Pfizer, Halliburton, etc but in Africa it’s part of everyday life for startup founders right from the beginning.

But western investors don't want to know about bribes in Africa. How do you handle this?

I blogged about some ideas on this in the title. I welcome your comments.

Corrupt Americans accept funding corrupt Africans as long as they look clean enough on paper.

Africans normalize crime. Doesn't make it the right solution.

Laws are often easier to change than people.