Debt burden and corruption impacts: African market dynamism

Abstract

Heavy debt burdens and corruption have not only had a debilitating effect on development but also undermined efforts at economic recovery and market‐enhancing initiatives in many African countries. Africa is the world’s most aid‐dependent and indebted region of the world. Much of the resources that could have been ploughed into investments are used to service debts and/or misappropriated by corrupt leaders – with all the attendant negative perceptions of Africa’s business environment. Therefore, in developing a “business plan” for Africa’s economic renascence, corruption and debt management and mismanagement (by both lenders and borrowers) need to be put squarely on the agenda. Against the backdrop of the currency of opinion for debt relief, this paper highlights the institutional processes that underlie the misallocation and misappropriation of original receipts, policy dynamism of their management and the overall market impact.

Corruption, governance and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: a need for the prioritisation of reform policies

“…Corruption has been identified as an ubiquitous social problem across all the regions of the world but its preponderance is found in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) due to lack of willingness and sincerity on the part of the national governments within the region, poverty level of its citizenry and underdevelopment (Richards et al, 2003). Also, most of the SSA countries are characterised by low Gross National Income per Capita, low life expectancy, low literacy level, lack of access to improved water and, above all, lack of transparency and accountability (Kofele-Kale, 2006;World Development Indicators, 2009).…”

“…These include: different forms of corporate corrupt practices (Wu, 2009), the spread and dynamics of corporate corruption (Nieuwenboer and Kaptein, 2008), underlying institutional processes of corporate corruption (Richards et al, 2003), causes of corporate corruption (Trevino and Weaver, 2003;Ashforth and Anand, 2003;Vardi and Weitz, 2004;Fleming and Zyglidopoulos, 2008) and impacts of corporate corruption (Kimuyu, 2007). However, the focus of this current study is political corruption which has been described as the abuse or misuse of public offices, resources, obligations or duties for private (personal or sectional) gain (Szeftel, 1998;.…”

Why is the president of Malawi angry? Towards an ethnography of corruption

“…This new capital rush to Africa has been serviced by a very active scholarship tracing out the local economic conditions required to maximise Western business return in Africa. One of these conditions, a 'corrupt'-free local eco-political climate, has been elevated in the scholarship to the condition par excellence for capital to succeed in Africa (Richards, Nwanna, and Nwankwo 2003;Anyanwu 2006;Breslin and Samanta 2008). 6 Thus in a very short period of time, economic scholarship has raised 'corruption' above other traditional curses of capitalism (inflation, low unemployment, government-business transaction costs) as the curse par excellence.…”

Enterprise zones in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evolution, rationalization, processes evaluation and outcomes

“…It is the opinion of the authors that some of the more critical considerations may have been: Market Proximity, Factors Limitations and Comparative Advantage, amongst others, including their vast debt ratio, which may also have been a factor. With the possible exception of South Africa, these countries were part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries debt relief program of the BWIs (Richards et al, 2003).…”