Summary

The growth of fraud and smuggling on a major scale, the plundering of natural resources, the privatization of state institutions, the development of an economy of plunder, the growth of private armies -- all of these features of public life in Africa suggest that the state itself is becoming a vehicle for organized criminal activity. The authors propose criteria for gauging the criminalization of African states and present a novel prognosis. They ask:
-- Is Africa moving away from a classical form of corruption to one in which major operators are now able to connect with global criminal networks?
-- What are the political origins of official implication in crime?
-- What aspects of Africa's past have contributed to current attitudes toward the use of public office for personal enrichment, or even systemic illegality?
-- What are the economic origins of official implication in crime? How have liberal economic reforms unintentionally fueled new forms of corruption?