Actually, the chinese are comfy bribing their way in african nations. And they are changing the continent quite fast. It's the unreported story of the decade.
I see Africa now like China in the late 80's or early 90's - the change is there, but the perceptions haven't shifted yet and anyone doing business there faces a situation of chaotic progress. A good place to be if you like extremes of risk/reward.
Except that "Africa" is way less coherent than China. There's not a lot in common for doing business in, say, Rwanda (notionally clean & business-friendly), Eritrea (autarchic dictatorship) and DR Congo (basically total chaos).
Bribing a corrupt government doesn't make that government better for business in general. It doesn't create permanent change away from the status quo that would lead to more sustainable development, rather, China gets some minerals for cheap while a despot can buy more BMWs.