Corrupt practices said to be hurting US biz goals in Africa

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - The president of the Corporate Council on Africa says official corruption is discouraging many U.S businesses from investing in Africa.

Urging African governments to commit to stemming corruption, Stephen Hayes told The Associated Press Tuesday that "the degree of corruption (in Africa) is much higher than everywhere."

Hayes' group, a nonprofit that seeks to promote investment between the U.S. and Africa, organized the ongoing U.S.-Africa business summit in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

The U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the summit that when some companies present opportunities to African governments, "you have people inside those governments fighting those opportunities because it gets in the way of their own private business interests."