The effects of foreign direct investment (fdi) on the environment in developing countries are now assessed quite differently from in the past

Case 2: The Abidjan Tragedy and Trafigura
In August 2006, disaster struck the Ivory Coast having been devastated by years of civil war, which has been trying to recover under a fragile government established under the supervision of ONUCI, the United Nations peace process for the Ivory Coast. A Panamanian flagged ship unloaded a toxic waste shipment in Abidjan, having been unable to unload the shipment in the Netherlands, reputedly because of cost implications. There have been reports of deaths and thousands requiring treatment following the dumping on open-air sites (Greenpeace, 2006; An African dumping ground, 2006). Missions from the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination have been dispatched to Abidjan. This ship was reported to have been leased to a MNC, Trafigura Ltd. It specialises in the energy and base metals markets. Trafigura maintains 4 data centres in addition to the 55 trading offices in 36 countries in Europe, North, Central and South America, Africa, Asia and Australia. Trafigura had a joint venture agreement with Emirates General Petroleum Corporation and BP Singapore PTE Limited to construct a new gasoline storage and blending facility at Jebel Ali Free Zone in UAE at a total investment of US$ 33 million (Energyme, 2004). By entering a tripartite agreement, the state controlled corporation, with its 60% interest, was able to retain an element of control over the project and also the employment opportunities. It has been stated by the Chairman of Trafigura that once the project has been completed, UAE will be benefited from the international trading opportunities created by Trafigura. However, these real benefits that accrue to UAE, i.e., a developing country must be weighed against the disadvantages. The environmental disaster at Abidjan gives a clear example of a developing country suffering from the dumping of dangerous waste in an ill-equipped and unregulated economy, which led to death, suffering and the dismissal of a fragile government.
Trafigura case study shows that, while it has brought substantial benefits to host countries, it will attempt to circumvent regional, national or international regulations in order to realise greater profit for its shareholders, even at the expense of the host countries.