When I was Africa

I used to work for President Obiang, Directly reporting to one of his twins..

That was early March 2014 when I arrived in Malabo, Capital of Equatorial Guinea. I worked as an accountant for the cement importation company for 11 months. It was a very weird experience to be honest and to-date it was the hardest working conditions I have encountered as a professional. Security is always a constant issue, health is a risk because of the prevalence of malaria and supplies of goods and services where horrendously limited.

A great question would be why did I went to Africa despite the abyssmal conditions? Basically I’m just in it for the money. I am trying to save enough for my then gilfriend and my mom.

At work, I was under utilized cognitively, I always finish work fast like a month of transactions recorded in just two or three days. But this area is not how crazy my mind was bent in the whole time I was there. My involvement in some transactions that were corrupt is what’s gripping me to-date. Like one of them was procuring fuel from the government’s natural resource and to the cargo ships that the company use to import cement from Europe. I estimated amount was $4,247,500 USD for the three cargo ships moving around Europe and West Africa for 11 months. The holding company never paid this to the government which in effect is stealing from the government - but since the family of the president owns the company, corruption is in play.

Corruption is so common in Africa that most people treat it as a way of life. Well, when you tell a lie too much it becomes the truth. With so many people tolerating the resources obtained through the corrupt practices - the people develops an ideology of acceptance over such. I feel the burden of being involved in this and have learned so much from my experience.

I realized in hindsight that when signing contracts, make sure that you fully understand everything that you are going to do especially if you are working on crazy places like Africa. This is applicable also in any contract - as hidden problems might bite you while performing what is required by an employer. Also, money doesn’t solve everything. This was a major realization for me and earning a lot of money will never takeaway the bad of how you got it- no matter how small it was.

I want to thank my friend from Poland Patrycja for agreeing to put my story in this blog. The future me would be appreciative of the time when I was in Africa.