Cause And Effect Of Corruption In Africa

Corruption and power have been inextricably linked for so long that many consider them to be one and the same, forever destined to accompany each other. Yet, corruption among the powerful has not been met with complacency in human history, rather the opposite instead. The Ancient Romans pioneered the first legal system with brutal punishments aimed to prevent ambitus, or political corruption. This strong desire to forcibly isolate corruption and power can be seen in China’s recent decision to declare severe cases of political corruption as worthy of the “death penalty”. Corruption even correlates with the development status of a country, which explains the common “African leadership is corrupt” rhetoric. Corruption and power may seem to be

Kleptocracy is defined as a state controlled to benefit an individual or small group who use their power to gain “a large fraction of society’s resources” to use for themselves. Kleptocracy “obstruct[s] development” of countries because the money taxpayers entrust to further develop their country through projects such as schools or infrastructure, becomes diverted to certain people for their own personal gain. Daron Acemoglu, Thierry Verdier, and James A. Robinson, writers for the Journal of the European Economic Association, established that kleptocracy runs rampant in “many developing countries.” As a result of this corruption, countries suffer “highly inefficient economic policies” and “expropriated the wealth of their citizens.”

Africa nowadays is viewed as a pretty poor continent, but if it were not for a single event, it wouldn’t be in the shape it is today. This event is best known as the scramble for Africa. The European powers had begun taking land after King Léopold the second claimed that initial piece of land. European powers gathered in 1884 to discuss which part of Africa were theirs to avoid fighting, however this was done between European countries, and the thought of even inviting a spokesperson from Africa was beyond them. The people of Africa were enslaved and forced to work the land for natural resources such as rubber and diamond. After the European powers claimed all that they could, two independent countries remained. These two countries were Liberia and Ethiopia. The “Eurocentric” perspective that the European powers had at the time allowed for them to commit these horrible acts and see nothing wrong with what they had

First, it is important to define what corruption is. The term, “corruption” covers a broad range of human actions,

Sierra Leone is a small country found on the west coast of Africa. The country shares a border with the Atlantic Ocean, Liberia, and Guinea. Sierra Leone has a population of 5,525,000 people, and 27,699 square miles of land. In 1462 Freetown, Sierra Leone was founded by Pedro da Cintra, a Portuguese explorer from Lagos, Portugal. da Cintra originally named the country Sierra Lyoa , the Lion Mountains, but in 1787 the British officially adopted Sierra Lyoa changing its name to its modern day spelling- Sierra Leone. This small country has faced many horrors within its history. The Sierra Leone civil war is a major contributing factor to the country’s current state of poverty and corruption. Most problems that the country faces today all stem

"Corruption is an important cause of poverty because it promotes unfair distribution of income and inefficient use of resources." (The Link Between Corruption and Poverty) Americans enjoy a government that, although it has its flaws, looks out for its citizens and is geared for the benefit of the people as a whole. Leaders that are elected generally have the population's best interests at heart and fight for better lives for average Americans nationwide. Most countries in Africa do not have the luxury of such a government. The officials only care about themselves. They pocket a fair amount of the donated money and another significant portion is used for selfish projects that do not really benefit the country or the millions of poverty-stricken citizens. "The well-connected people don't have to pay the same taxes like everyone else; policemen and other junior officials seeking small bribes don't dare solicit cash from them. At the end of the day it is the poor and the weak who face the true brunt of corruption. This is a critical link between corruption and poverty." (The Link Between Corruption and Poverty) This also has an effect on the leaders that do have good intentions at heart. They have never been trained on how to be effective and they also, accidentally, use the money in many unhelpful ways. The money is squandered time and time again and the rest of the world does nothing but keep the supply of it coming. This is another area where something must

Modern African states have various problems ranging from corruption, to armed conflict, to stunted structural development. Africa’s ongoing political instability and economic crisis have hindered the improvement of Africa. Thus, the lack of money, advancement in technology, and climate has hampered economic development. Despite European mistreatment and oppression African’s have endured hardships that have encouraged economy, education, and political

It is in fact the the third most corrupt country in Africa. Corruption has increased in Zimbabwe forty-three percent from 2002 to 2012. All signs of corruption in Africa, especially in Zimbabwe led back to the government and President Mugabe. The unethical ways of political officials in Zimbabwe influenced other countries in Africa. The Anti-Corruption Trust in South Africa found that traffic police in Zimbabwe accumulated wealth which was not justifiable due to their salaries (Mathuthu 1, 2, 3). Robert Mugabe has been known for paying off people in contract settlements and brides (“Govt” 1, 2, 3). Now a correlation is beginning to be found between the actions of Mugabe and the rest of Africa. Nearly 75 million people in Africa have been estimated to have paid someone a bride within the last year. As a region totaling in twenty-eight governments eighteen out of these are completely insufficient to address the issues within their countries corruption (“75” 1, 2). Since Mugabe gained power in 1987, his actions have been very destructive for the rest of the region. Following in the footsteps of President Mugabe, Africa is becoming one of the most corrupt

As many other governments africa’s has corruption but this corruption is coming from game officers helping to poach

The story of Africa is not new at all. Africa’s economic achievement is one of the biggest mystery to solve. Plenty of African historians have recorded destructive consequences that burdens Africa from inside and outside influences. It has been said over and over again but the status of the continent remains the same. The continent of Africa has been favored immensely with natural resources, human and economic diversity. Despite the resources Africa possesses it continues to remain underdeveloped and in poverty mainly because of outside and inside influences such as, climate, corrupted leaders, imperialism, and low rates of education.

Corruption is seemingly the Kenyan way, on any given day in the dailies there is a breaking story on a new scandal or a rehash of a past one. From government to corporates there are multiple examples of maleficence some of which will continue to adversely affect our economy for years to come.

Modern African states have several problems ranging from corruption, to armed conflict, to stunted structural development. The effects of colonialism have been offered as a starting point for much of the analysis on African states, but the question of why African states are particularly dysfunctional needs to be examined, given the extent to which they have lagged behind other former European colonies in many aspects. In the first section, I will consider the problems with African states from the level of the state. That is, the nature of the states' inceptions and the underlying flaws may explain some of the issues that have been associated with African states today. Next I examine the development of, or lack of, civil

Corruption can be defined as the use of entrusted power to accumulate public wealthy for personal benefit. Corruption is not peculiar to any country, continent or state; it is sure a global issue which is an endemic to all government all over the world. However, corruption is prevalent in the Niger delta region of Nigeria; public officers in this oil producing state of Nigeria are corrupt. Consequently, it has defied the Niger delta from developing politically and economically which has left the states reputation in a mess. Radicalization of youths, abject poverty and -political instability are the three leading effects of corruption in the Niger delta region of Nigeria.

This paired with poor law enforcement yields an impossibly hard to get rid of corruption. In Kenya, political corruption has grown rampant. People, who are supposed to be representing the interests of their constituency, instead take money from the constituents to keep their representative positions.

Corruption is a complex political, social, and economic anomaly that negatively affects developing and developed countries. It weakens democratic institutions, holds economic development, widening the rich-poor gap and certainly leads to governmental instability. The World Bank definition of corruption states that “…the abuse of public office for private gain”.