The Frontier Few Understand
OPINION
Africa’s Resource Code: Misread by Many, Understood by Few
Article by Steven Thomas, Saturday 31 May, 2025There’s a tendency in Western boardrooms and pressrooms alike to speak of African corruption in sweeping, simplistic terms — as though the continent were a single entity plagued by dysfunction. It’s a narrative that’s not only tired, but misleading.
Africa is not broken. It’s complex.
Tom Burgis' The Looting Machine is a timely reminder that Africa’s most pressing challenges — from elite capture to opaque governance structures — stem not from cultural failure, but from structural conditions shaped by global demand, legacy borders, and the raw gravitational pull of resource wealth. What emerges is not a morality tale, but a market reality.
Yes, governance can be fractured. Yes, tribal loyalties often intersect with business and politics. But these are not immovable obstacles — they are dynamics. Understand them, and you gain access to a different layer of deal flow. Ignore them, and you will find yourself locked out or worse, exposed.
Much of the corruption Western analysts love to highlight isn’t uniquely African. It’s transnational. The bribes don’t just flow south — they’re wired in from London, Houston, Geneva, and Beijing. Africa is not the source of global corruption. It is the venue.
What’s rarely acknowledged is how many African governments — even in difficult conditions — manage staggering logistical and economic challenges with limited infrastructure and inherited borders that make European governance models look like a luxury. Add to this the pressure of external interference, and the fact that many leaders must balance tribal representation with national unity, and the situation becomes more nuanced than critics allow.
But here’s the opportunity: the very forces that complicate operations in Africa also create openings for those who can operate with agility, respect, and discretion. Tribal authority is not a hindrance — it’s often a more stable and predictable form of consensus than some national institutions. Government relationships are not merely red tape — they are an axis of influence and trust, forged over years and transactions.
For those of us in recruitment, particularly within extractive industries, this means placing people who do more than speak the language of business. It means sourcing operators who understand the power structures on the ground, who can navigate between ministries and mine heads, between tradition and transformation. These are not just salespeople — they’re diplomats with steel in their veins.
Africa accounts for 15% of the world’s oil, 40% of its gold, and 80% of its platinum. It holds the future reserves of copper, lithium, rare earths — the lifeblood of the energy transition. And yet, it represents just 2% of global GDP. That gap is not a tragedy. It is a margin — and one that’s closing fast.
The companies — and the individuals — who will thrive in this landscape are not the ones chasing compliance checkboxes from a safe distance. They are those willing to build trust in high-friction environments. They are the ones who see local context not as chaos, but as code.
Africa doesn’t need saving. It needs understanding. And for those with the patience, courage, and clarity to read the map properly, it remains the most promising frontier on Earth.
