Corruption in Africa – Part 2

Abstract

In order to succeed in minimizing corruption in the African countries, one must start by examining the nature of institutional arrangements in each country with a review to modifying them. This calls for the reconstruction and reconstitution of the post‐colonial state through democratic constitution making to provide a new set of laws and institutions that reflects the values of each country’s relevant stakeholders. Most of today’s African countries have incentive structures, which actually encourage and enhance corruption. Increasing government intervention in the market‐place is not likely to reduce corruption as the evidence from more than 50 years of government attempts to control venality in Africa’s public sectors shows. The most effective way to deal with corruption in Africa is to engage the people in comprehensive institutional reforms that modify existing incentives and produce new ones, which are capable of successfully inducing participants in both political and economic markets to undertake only activities that produce the outcomes desired by society. Thus, to cleanup corruption from the African economies, improve both productive and allocative efficiency, and generally enhance development, national leaders must engage their people in democratic institutional reforms to provide society with transparent, accountable, and participatory governance structures.