• Thursday, March 28, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

Rescuing Africa from corruption

businessday-icon

Recently in Paris, France, it was disclosed that the amount stolen from developing countries each year and stored abroad could be as much as US$40 billion. According to the World Bank, the figure represents wealth gathered through bribery, misappropriation of funds and corrupt practices. Africa constitutes a significant proportion of less developed countries and, though the figure was not broken down into continents, it will not surprise many that African countries contribute a significant sum of this corrupt figure.

By its illegal nature, the value of corruption in Nigeria and Africa cannot be exactly determined. The figures arrived at are usually, at best, good estimates after taking into consideration many economic and social parameters. In many African countries, corruption has been a problem. The problem manifests itself in two critical ways. First, the money is stolen. Second, the money is taken out of the country.

Over the years, African countries have suffered from growing income inequalities, poverty, and ignorance. Resources of some of the continent’s countries have been exploited and without commensurate outcome for the generality of the people, because most of the monies that accrue to the country are stolen. As discussed last week in the conference on stolen asset recovery in Paris, corruption has become a critical issue of development.

In Nigeria, everyone agrees that corruption is an issue. It is widely accepted that corruption has permeated every strata and area of the Nigerian nation. Nonetheless, Nigerians are divided on what is required to reduce corruption significantly. We believe there are two critical issues that must be resolved if we are to make progress on eradicating corruption. The first is to minimize the role of government in economic activity. That means, minimizing the role of government in the allocation of resources. The consideration for the allocation of resources under government is not price, but other parameters that leave so much room for influence and corruption.

Read Also: PHED denies corruption allegation, poor services

The second thing to be done is to improve on the transparency of government process and procedure. Though progress has been made on this front in the last few years through the establishment of the due process office at the federal level, and the improved procedures that affects government procurement at the different levels, gaps for corruption remain. The third thing that is critical to reducing corruption in the country is to accelerate the reduction in poverty. While the economy has been growing at the rate of about 5 percent yearly, there is growing poverty and unemployment in the country. Poverty fuels corruption activities. For instance, it has been widely acknowledged that one of the reasons why some public officials steal government funds is because they, in turn, want to provide for their nuclear and extended families. Reduction of poverty will reduce this pressure.

Corruption also increases in our society because of the economic risks of seemingly lack of opportunities after leaving office. Many government officials dread leaving their government posts because they fear they will not be able to match the lifestyle they are used to in government. This situation can only be helped by increasing economic opportunities and growth as discussed above, social security measures, and the reduction in the attraction to government roles. We must make progress on corruption, as it is affecting the rate of our economic growth and development.