My guess is that this situation is not an accident. Corrupt officials in many African countries make a lot of money off of their citizens by denying them access to international commerce unless they go through the right intermediary (usually a relative of the corrupt official). Hence the 35% markup the author mentions -- if there was anything resembling a free market, the markup would be lower. This markup effectively functions as a tariff targeting multinational companies: you can bring money into the country easily, but if you want to remove it, you have to pay. And the money likely goes right back into the hands of the bureaucrats and their relatives.

There are many places in this world where laws are used simply as tools to maintain the wealth of the ruling class. If you come up with a business that tries to disrupt their order, they will simply invent some tax evasion charges and seize your assets. You'll probably lose because the judge is also a distant relative who is in on the entire scheme.