Independent international commodities trader Trafigura has today agreed to pay out 33 million euros to victims of toxic waste dumped in Ivory Coast in an out-of-court settlement. Trafigura has been dogged by accusations of questionable business dealings in recent years, and human rights groups say the payout is insufficient.

Trafigura has agreed to payout 750,000 francs CFA (1,150 euros, 1,700 dollars) to each of the 31,000 victims of the toxic waste dumped in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, who took part in a class action suit headed by British law firm Leigh Day and Company. Considering the number of victims and the fact that they originally asked for 180 million pounds (roughly six times the amount they eventually got), the amount seems remarkably small.

In August 2006, the Probo Koala ship, chartered by Trafigura, dumped caustic soda and petroleum residues on city waste tips in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s economic capital.

The Ivory Coast claims that the dumping led to the deaths of 17 people and resulted in over 100,000 needing medical assistance.

In return for the payout, the victims have agreed to seek no further compensation from the company and to recognise the company’s conclusions.

When announcing the payout Trafigura said: “The settlement announced today is in no way an acceptance of liability.” The commodities firm says it is simply, “the mark of a company that fully recognises its social and economic commitment to the region.” Some cynics suggest that this payout is actually a desperate attempt by the company to avoid the court room, where uncomfortable questions could be asked.

The company has also taken swift action to dismiss the independent report by a UN-appointed Special Rapporteur, Okechukwu Ibeanu, who serves in an unpaid capacity and reports to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council. His report, which is available on the UN website, states that: “We still don’t know – and we may never know – the full effect of the dumping […] But there seems to be strong prima facie evidence that the reported deaths and adverse health consequences are related to the dumping of the waste” from the Probo Koala. The company hit back saying the report was, “unbalanced, factually inaccurate and poorly researched.”

Whatever the truth of the matter is, the company has managed to bury it with this payout.   

This latest scandal at Trafigura could lead some to think the company is somewhat unlucky and accident prone. Over the past few years the commodities firm has been at the centre of a number of scandals which have severely damaged its reputation, most infamously the Oil-For-Food scandal with the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein. Below is a choice of some of the corporate scandals that have rocked Trafigura:

1) Oil-for-food scandal in Iraq

The most infamous of the Trafigura scandals. The scheme, established by the UN, enabled Iraq under Saddam Hussein to sell oil in exchange for aid. Trafigura Beheer BV – a Dutch branch of the company – chartered the Essex, a tanker given permission to load Iraqi crude oil. Reports subsequently emerged that it added extra crude oil and was, as a result, intercepted by the US Navy. Trafigura took legal action against oil equipment supplier Ibex for having allegedly misled them about the deal.

2) Explosion in Norway

In 2007 an explosion occurred in Slovag, Norway. A firm called Vest Tank had been attempting to dispose of chemical waste for the owners of the waste – Trafigura – when the explosion occured.

3) Political corruption in Jamaica

The secretary general of Jamaica's People's National Party was forced to resign when it emerged that a payment had been made by the firm to the party. Trafigura Beheer, which was contracted by the Jamaican government to trade Nigerian crude oil, made a donation of some 31 million dollars to the party. The incident became known as the 'Trafigura Scandal'. Trafigura had been allowed to keep the profits on Nigerian oil which Jamaica had the rights to. The company denied bribing public officials or any other wrongdoing.

Under its current management, Trafigura has been dragged into a catalogue of highly questionable business dealings, which raise questions about the company and highlight the bigger issue of how big business operates in Africa.