Africa

Corruption is a pervasive problem in both the developed and developing world. Corruption is a complex issue with a vast array of determinants and effects that are often context and country specific. Corruption affects many Africans on a daily basis.

This discussion provides a concise overview of corruption in Africa and outlines how this corruption constrains development, with solutions to the problem also.

In recent years, the problem has gained much interest due primarily to a series of high level corruption cases in industrialised countries, an increasing awareness of the cost of corruption throughout the world and the practical and economic changes many countries are undergoing.In Africa however, corruption is a development issue. In 2009, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Southern Africa Representative Jonathan Lucas labelled corruption as “a crime against development, democracy, education, prosperity, public health and justice - what many would consider the pillars of social well being."

Transparency International’s (TI) 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released in October 2010, identified Africa as the most corrupt region in the world. Sub-Saharan Africa is also one of the most under-developed regions on earth. While Governments commit large sums to addressing the plethora of problems hindering development on the continent, corruption remains a major obstacle to achieving much needed progress. It is therefore imperative that anti-corruption measures form part of Africa’s development agenda to ensure future growth and prosperity in the region.

According to Transparency International’s (TI) 2012 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), 90% of African countries scored below the symbolic 50 pass mark. This is roughly on a par with Eastern Europe and Central Asia. On average, Africa’s CPI score in 2012 was 33, which means corruption hampers business and the provision of decent public services. This is an improvement over last year’s average score of 29, which TI equates to widespread corruption. The bottom five countries in the index include two African countries, Somalia and Sudan.

The CPI report defines corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain, in public and private sectors. Countries are scored based on assessments of the prevalence of bribery of public officials, embezzlement of public funds, kickbacks in public procurement, and questions about the effectiveness of public anti-corruption efforts. According to the report, conduct within most African countries in these areas leaves much to be desired.

The Berlin-based group’s 2010 list ranks six African nations among the 10 most corrupt countries of the 173 surveyed. These are Sudan, Chad, Burundi, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, with Somalia heading the list as the most corrupt nation of all those surveyed. These six may be the worst culprits on the continent, but the majority of African countries surveyed did not fare any better. TI scores countries on a 10-point scale, with zero being the most corrupt. Forty-four of the 47 African nations surveyed scored less than five on the index, indicating serious levels of corruption. The severity of Africa’s corruption problem is further evidenced by the least corrupt African nation, Botswana, only achieving a score of 5.8.

For the first time, Botswana entered the world’s top 30 countries perceived to be least corrupt, ahead of Spain, Estonia and Portugal. Cape Verde joined Botswana in the group of countries with a score above 60. The Seychelles (52) became the fifth African country with an index above 50, closely behind Mauritius (57) and Rwanda (53). Zambia and Ghana are two countries that have taken a tough stance against corruption which might translate into an improved CPI in the medium term.

TI’s 2011 Global Corruption Barometer indicates that African citizens believe corruption had worsened in the previous three years. Rwanda was the only African country where more than 50% of respondents believed corruption had declined in this time. In Kenya and Ethiopia more people believed corruption had improved than got worse.

The majority of countries at the bottom of the CPI have emerged from prolonged crisis, which highlights the strong detrimental effect of conflict on political and administrative institutions. Somalia, Sudan, Chad, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Libya, Congo Republic, DRC and Angola have the lowest scores for the continent.

The Arab Spring put the spotlight on public concern over corruption. Newly elected North African governments must entrench a culture of transparency and accountability in public office and regain trust. This will require establishing integrity in government institutions and involving the public much more to have them demand further accountability.

According to TI, national defence sectors face a strong risk of corruption. Defence and security establishments in North African countries in particular were considered barely accountable.
 
Table 5.3. Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International 2011-13

Country

Global rank 2012	CPI 2012	Global Rank 2011	CPI 2011
Botswana	30	65	32	61
Cape Verde	39	60	41	55
Mauritius	43	57	46	51
Rwanda	50	53	49	50
Seychelles	51	52	50	48
Namibia	58	48	57	44
Ghana	64	45	69	39
Lesotho	64	45	77	35
South Africa	69	43	64	41
Saõ Tomé & Príncipe	72	42	100	30
Liberia	75	41	91	32
Tunisia	75	41	73	38
Burkina Faso	83	38	100	30
Malawi	88	37	100	30
Morocco	88	37	80	34
Swaziland	88	37	95	31
Zambia	88	37	91	32
Benin	94	36	100	30
Djibouti	94	36	100	30
Senegal	94	36	112	29
Gabon	102	35	100	30
Tanzania	102	35	100	30
Algeria	105	34	112	29
Gambia	105	34	77	35
Mali	105	34	118	28
Ethiopia	113	33	120	27
Niger	113	33	134	25
Egypt	118	32	112	29
Madagascar	118	32	100	30
Mauritania	123	31	143	24
Mozambique	123	31	120	27
Sierra Leone	123	31	134	25
Togo	128	30	143	24
Côte d´Ivoire	130	29	154	22
Uganda	130	29	143	24
Comoros	133	28	143	24
Kenya	139	27	154	22
Nigeria	139	27	143	24
Cameroon	144	26	134	25
Central African Rep.	144	26	154	22
Congo	144	26	154	22
Eritrea	150	25	134	25
Guinea-Bissau	150	25	154	22
Guinea	154	24	164	21
Angola	157	22	168	20
Congo, Dem. Rep.	160	21	168	20
Libya	160	21	168	20
Equatorial Guinea	163	20	172	19
Zimbabwe	163	20	154	22
Burundi	165	19	172	19
Chad	165	19	168	20
Sudan	173	13	177	16
Somalia	174	8	182	10
South Sudan	…	…	…	…

The TI study found a high-to-critical corruption risk in defence sectors in 14 sub-Saharan countries. Angola, Cameroon, DRC and Eritrea face the highest risk of defence corruption, highlighting the legacy of conflict and weak governance. South Africa is the only country in the region with provisions for legislative oversight of the defence sector. Ghana and Kenya show some encouraging measures, including the existence of disciplinary measures against corruption. Tanzania’s professional training of UN peacekeeping forces may lower the risk of corruption on operations.

Public procurement also offers potential for corruption through embezzlement or waste of public money. TI estimates corruption and mismanagement in public procurement could be costing Kenya up to USD 357 million annually. In early 2013, the Kenyan government started looking into simplified monitoring tools and a central database of contract information to increase transparency in public spending. In Ghana, social auditing clubs track public tenders to watch for quality and effective spending.

The scientific nature of scales and scores may have little meaning to the people affected most by the corruption the figures indicate. An additional report published by TI in 2010, The Anti-Corruption Catalyst: Realising the MDGs by 2015, puts the affects of corruption in perspective. A bribe demanded by a teacher to enrol a girl at a ‘free’ elementary school could irreversibly block that girl's education and future opportunities. A hike in the local cost of drugs by newly elected parliamentarians whose campaigns were supported by pharmaceutical firms might put treatment out of reach of sick people, leaving them unable to work and earn a living. Amounts paid as bribes are often quite small, but the implicit costs are great.

The Anti-Corruption Catalyst report shows, through the statistical analysis of data from 42 countries, that where more bribes are paid, there is a lower literacy rate among 15 to 24-year-olds. A rise in reported bribery is also associated with higher maternal deaths in 64 states, regardless of a country's wealth or how much it invests in health. Data for 51 countries shows that people's access to safe drinking water falls as bribery increases. According to TI, reducing bribery has the same effect on improving access to clean water as increasing household incomes.

The effects of bribery and kickbacks in the education, water and healthcare sectors represent the implicit costs of corruption. These incidents transform corruption into a “regressive tax” on services that the poor cannot afford, making basic services unattainable. Thus, it is the poor and vulnerable who suffer most due to corruption as they are more reliant on Government services and public systems to satisfy their most basic needs. In addition to the bribes that are demanded of those who cannot afford them, corruption results in the deviation of funds intended for development and undermines Government’s ability to provide basic services. It also undermines the rule of law, feeding inequality and injustice, discouraging foreign investment, further impeding development.

A lack of transparency, integrity and accountability is related to economic under-performance and fetters progress toward poverty eradication in many developing nations.As the world’s most under-developed region, the barriers to development and poverty eradication that corruption imposes are costs sub-Saharan Africa can ill afford.

In addition to the implicit costs of corruption due to bribery, there are also hidden costs associated with corruption. The costs of a form of corruption termed “quiet corruption” by the World Bank, adversely affect the poor in particular. The World Bank’s Africa Development Indicators 2010 shows that civil servants' failure to deliver Government-run health, education or agricultural services, further jeopardises Africa’s long-term development.

This form of corruption, smaller in monetary terms and not usually involving powerful officials or large amounts of money, is particularly harmful for the poor. One example of this type of low-level corruption comes from Burkina Faso, ranked 98th in 2010’s CPI with a score of 3.8.RENLAC, the Burkina Faso anti-corruption network, identified a primary school inspector who used to arrange for teachers posted to rural areas to be transferred back to cities if they paid her small sums of money, thus depriving the rural poor of much needed teachers.

Low-level corruption in the education sector is of course not unique to Burkina Faso. In many African countries, teachers at Government schools stay away from class or do not take up appointments in remote regions. The results of this behaviour has devastating long-term effects, as children who are denied a proper education because of absentee teachers will suffer low cognitive skills and associated problems in adulthood. It is clear then that corruption in all its forms is a crime against development that blocks attempts at growth and poverty eradication. Corruption impacts most heavily on the poor and vulnerable members in society, but underdevelopment affects the future growth and prosperity of all people. Thus, fighting on behalf of the disempowered and ensuring Africa’s development means that the responsibility for dealing with corruption falls squarely on all, from Governments and donors to civil society and citizens.