The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Partnership Against Corruption Initiative (PACI) held its Bi-Annual Community meeting in Switzerland between the 21-22nd of May. The above topic was discussed by WEF’s Global Shapers who shared their perspectives of the young generation on anti-corruption. I would like to look at this topic,
albeit, from a sub-Saharan African perspective.
Whilst acknowledging that Africa is not one homogenous unit, I have however sought to establish threads that should have applicability across a significant number of sub-Saharan African countries.
The World Bank has defined corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. It can be classified as grand and petty, depending on the amount of money lost and the sector where it occurs. Corruption cuts across various levels of government and is a major inhibitor of political and economic development and a sustainable future.
Currently, corruption exists on an alarming scale as the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) shows that majority of countries are making little or no progress in ending corruption. The 2017 ranking which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, according to experts and businesspeople, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. The index found that more than two-thirds of countries score below 50, with an average score of 43.
Globally, 11 out the 20 countries perceived to be most corrupt are in Africa. In Africa, about 90% of the countries struggle with high levels of corruption which is mostly characterized by poor accountability of government officials, corrupt judicial systems which in turn affects the various sectors of a countries economy and the populace as a whole.
Source: Africa and The Anti-Corruption Generation – THISDAYLIVE
