If there is a formula for foreign companies operating in Africa's extractive industries, it has been this: Pay the government millions of dollars for concession rights; dig, pump, pick or chop what you seek; and export. Don't worry too much about the country or its people.
These days, you'll increasingly have to make some effort to control pollution and balance profits with corporate social responsibility. But many Western multinationals would still balk at demands to create enough jobs in the host country to offset the corruption, inequality and not infrequent social unrest their fees can fuel. Such things, they argue, are...