Roughly 43% of Africans live in poverty while over $50 billion worth of stolen assets flows out of the continent every year. This is money that can be invested in jobs and businesses.
The African Regional Advisor, Transparency International, Paul Banoba joined Tolu and Olisa on News Central TV’s Breakfast Central to discuss the latest ranking.
According to him, TI arrives at their ranking by compiling analysis from experts and observers as well as the corruption experiences in the public sector of countries around the world. “Misapprioprated funds account for about 25% loss of development resources in Africa. One in two citizens of Sub-Saharan Africa reported paying a bribe for land services.”
Now, sub-saharan Africa scored 32% in the latest ranking, making them the worst performing in the region this year. Paul Banoba had this to say: The average of 32% has been the same for so many years. It was 32% in 2017, 2018 and only changed slightly to 31% in years before. We do have countries above that average and some other countries below it.
At the bottom of the index, we have contries like Sudan and Somalia. We also have countries rebuilding their independence from the scracth, countries with civil unrest, pockets of destabilisation and all sorts of insurgents like in the case of Nigeria.
So what is Seychelles doing right to have been ranked the least corrupt country in Africa? Banoba responded: “The right laws are in place, followed by institutions to fight against corruption. These institutions have the right resources, capacities, and independence to do their work. We have a clear separation of powers in countries like Seychelles, Botswana, as well as functional institutions and laws. Plus in terms of their responsibility to their citizens, they have high accountable levels.”
When asked about the impact technology has had on the fight against corruption, the Transparency International advisor explained that Technology plays a great role in availing accessible information. “Technology is advancing therefore anti-corruption needs to be equipped with the right technology to counter the advances of corruption facilitated by technology.”
In conclusion, he stated that no country is immune from corruption, as it is a global phenomenon. The country with the highest-ranking even scored 88%. But the absence of the right laws and non-implementation of laws weakens established institutions. The human beings that run these institutions seem to be immune from the laws, so it doesn’t have an effect on them. Corruption is a multi-faceted problem, and it affects every sector of society, from the household level even up to institutions.