Anti toxicity protest                       Photo courtesy

Allegations that Trafigura dumped tonnes of toxic waste that led to thousands of West Africans falling ill and others die in densely populated parts of Ivory Coast confirms long held concerns by people on the continent that developed nations have a hand in their negative predicament. It is urgent that the world and Africans in particular probe the conduct of Western corporations on the continent.

This is not the first time that Europe, the bastion of environmental stewardship and human rights, has done the contrary. In 1987, an Italian ship dumped waste at Nigeria’s Koko beach subjecting the public to burns, paralysis, hemorrhage and death. In 1997/98, two European companies connived with Somali warlords and dumped 10 million tonnes of nuclear waste in Southern Somalia at $ 10 per tonne. The Somali public continues to bear the brunt of resultant unfamiliar diseases which the local medical professionals don’t know how to handle in alarming numbers.

The Tsunami that hit the coast of Somalia in 2004 uncovered shiploads of industrial, hospital, chemical, leather treatment and other toxic waste which were simply dumped on the beaches in containers and disposable leaking barrels without regard to the health of the local population and any environmentally devastating impacts.

Not only does the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) admit that “European firms are known to be engaged in the business of dumping hazardous waste in Africa,” but it is also aware that inspections of 18 European ports in 2005 found that 47 per cent of all waste destined for export was illegal. However, it has done little to stop the practice. Is this a chemical warfare aimed at rendering Africa’s land unproductive and people diseased so that they may be ready candidates for western donor food aid and market for European country pharmaceuticals?

Africa must strongly condemn one of the worst cases of corporate killing and injury inflicted on its populations. Africa’s citizens on the other hand must demand to know the deals their leaders are striking with foreign firms. Too much focus on short term interests ought not be a license for African elites to collude with their Western counterparts to kill people on the continent.