Corruption happens to be by and large one of the biggest challenges to good governance around the world. It paralyzes systems of governance and affects the efficiency and transmission of services to the people.   

It is one of the metrics by which the progress of the country is evaluated. It acts as a good parameter to judge the transparency of the government and helps the international community to take decisions about their investments, residence, and tourism. Nowhere in the world is corruption completely eradicated, it varies in degrees from one region/country to the other. The focus of this article is going to be on Africa. 

Africa has a long history of political instability and authoritarian governments that are not exactly known for their sound management. Not that having a democracy automatically ensures that corruption will go away, but autocratic systems promote a degree of opaqueness that is not at all conducive to mitigating corruption.  

Corruption worldwide is measured comprehensively by Transparency International, an organization that is responsible for releasing the corruption perception index. According to the latest one published in 2020, the least corrupt African country happens to be Namibia, with a rank of 57, and a score of 51 points out of 100. The list comprises 180 countries. The bottom two spots are occupied by South Sudan and Somalia respectively, which are afflicted by chaotic and violent civil wars. Not far from the bottom, 169th spot is occupied by DRC, which the survey reveals has the highest bribery rate in the continent.

The findings of transparency international do not paint a pretty picture

Diving deep into the intricacies of corruption in the African continent, a survey was conducted by Global Corruption Barometer, in association with Transparency International. Across the survey conducted in 35 countries, the majority of people believed that the police were the most corrupt institution in their respective countries, followed by government officials and parliamentarians. This does not come as a surprise, as in most cases the government agents that come in frequent contact with the public are seen or perceived to be corrupt.  

In a continent with countries that have ill-defined borders between rights and duties, police and government excesses are common. Such a scenario often translates to influential figures having a larger-than-life authority, and not being afraid to exploit it. Worse still, according to the survey, the majority of the people feel that corruption is deteriorating in their country. The survey further uncovers another unsettling statistic. Poor people are likely to pay more bribes than the people that are well off. This may be due to a variety of reasons. People in higher strata of society have better education and might be more aware of their rights, and/or are in a better position to negotiate and bargain to reduce the bribe they have to pay.  

It would also not be right to point fingers at only the domestic institutions. Multi-National Companies that are after Africa’s lucrative resources resort to bribes to secure their contracts. This can be attested by the accusations that the Chinese company ZTE has bribed officials in Chad, Uganda, Zambia, and Kenya. In unfortunate circumstances, foreign aid that is supposed to help people is diverted towards other vested interests. How much of it ends up being in ineligible hands is up for debate and is being investigated by the World Bank.

There is some good news, however, with more than 53% of the respondents confident that they can ensure that corruption can be rooted out. Such a complex scenario throws up the following questions; 

The tale of corruption in Africa

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