Visiting US President Barack Obama today took African governments to the cleaners over corruption, saying that lack of transparency is the main reason why American businesses are reluctant to invest in the continent.

Obama, who spoke tonight during a meeting with African Union Commissioner Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as part of his South African visit dismissed many African governments as corrupt with undemocratic ideals.

His words: “Part of what your generation needs to do is to make sure that you have accountable, transparent and non-corrupt open government because economic development is not going to happen in the absence of that certainty. That’s what business wants. They don’t want to pay a bribe to install a phone line or hire somebody’s cousin just to open a business. We have to open about it because in a lot of countries that is still the case.”

Commenting on the meeting, Dlamini-Zuma told newsmen: “We discussed how the AU can work together with the US on a variety of issue such as peace related issues. We also agreed that they will be encouraging more investments to Africa but investments that will benefit both the people and the investor.”

Obama committed to work with the AU on its Peer Review Mechanism. He also denied his visit was due to China’s influence and footprint on the continent.

The three-nation African tour earlier took Obama to Senegal and will conclude with a visit to Tanzania.

•Photo shows Obama in South Africa.