Corruption In African Countries Essay

PP.Ledwaba

Topic: Factors affecting corruption in African countries.

Introduction

Background

Corruption is one of the most formidable challenges to sustainable development in Africa. Corruption hinders economic development and it tends to slow down the democratic process and stability in a political system. The money gained out of corruption does not increase the living standards of the beneficiaries of corruption nor is it used to make smart investments, instead it is used for example private gain to import luxurious goods (Thelander 2005:29). Combating corruption is a major concern due to the fact that corruption is found in all African nations from South Africa to Egypt and from the offices of presidents and prime ministers to the smallest administration units of government. The Transparency International anti-corruption organisations have ranked Africa as one of the continents that have been swimming in the ocean of corruption. A survey has proved that Africans themselves strongly believe that the government ruling in the continent is perceived to be corrupt (Transparency International ,2016; Corruption Perception Index, 2016). Transparency International constructed a corruption rank which asserts that the ten most corrupt nations were Somalia, South Sudan, North Korea, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Afghanistan, Guinea-Bissau and

According to Adaman, Carkoglu and Senalatar (2001:8), there is a multidimensional picture illustrating the economic determinants of corruption. First, is the economic development, therefore, the lack of economic resources can emerge as a fundamental economic determinant of corruption. Second, are various economic factors that affect corruption such as income distribution, poverty, inflation, government expenditure and Foreign aid. Mumtaz & Anwar (2007), concludes that almost all the economic determinants were statistically significant in determining