The corruption and sustainable development nexus in Africa: a contemporary review and analysis

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to re-examine the corruption and sustainable development nexus in Africa and offer a contemporary analytical review and analysis of that relationship in the region. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the available and accessible relevant data from credible sources, this work quantifies, outlines and analyses the nexus between corruption and sustainable development, as it applies primarily to sub-Saharan Africa. It uses the relevant disaggregated data and also complements that with the results of reliable empirical studies to further cross-reference and demonstrate the corruption and sustainable development nexus. Findings It is shown that corruption in Africa continues to be negatively associated with sustainable development objectives and that, in turn, will continue to affect the continent’s progress in achieving sustainable development. Undoubtedly, corruption is very damaging to economies across all nations and regions. However, in Africa, this impact on sustainable development has been particularly severe and ongoing. Consequently, the views expressed several decades ago of corruption being able to grease the wheels and potentially contribute to economic development is not valid and, in fact, has been severally discredited over the years. Originality/value The main value of the paper is the insights it provides, and with cross-reference to the empirical literature and time series data, on the corruption and sustainable development nexus in Africa.

Does corruption affect development outcomes differently in sub-Saharan Africa? Fresh evidence from Ghana

“…The idea has received numerous contributions from practitioners, scholars and policymakers after the launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. Operationalising the core principles of sustainability has attracted an avalanche of research outputs on the sustainability strand of development [8,9,11,19]. The early contributors to the concept of sustainability identified three different perspectives; which include economic perspective, ecological perspective and social perspective.…”

“…The corruption-economic development nexus is well established at the micro and macro levels [5][6][7]; yet on sustainable development, few empirical studies present country-level evidence. Most studies on the corruption-sustainable development nexus have been explored at the macro level [8][9][10]. It is instructive to point out that, most of these studies that purport to have explored the nexus between corruption and sustainable development failed to incorporate a one-stop measure of sustainability but rather resorted to different measures such as GDP growth rates, food insecurity, poverty outcomes, income inequality, public debt among others without recourse to the environment at the macro level.…”

Corruption and external debt nexus in sub-Saharan Africa: a panel quantile regression approach

“…While the literature on the damaging effects of corruption on growth and development is abundant (Olawale and Hassan, 2016; Abdullahi et al , 2016; Huang, 2016; Lim, 2019; Mhlaba and Phiri, 2019; Asteriou et al , 2021; Ghourchian and Yilmazkuday, 2020; Pegkas et al , 2020; Law et al , 2021; Abubakar and Mamman, 2021; Hope, 2022; Amoh et al , 2022), the corruption-debt nexus is emerging.…”