Skip to main content

Corruption Due to Poor Governance

By
Corruption, as discussed in this entry, refers to the act of elected officials breaking the laws for their own benefit or to fulfill their own interest.  According to an article by CNN, the most common types of corruption include bribery and extortion in addition to the allocation of public resources for the purpose of self political benefits.  Corruption, in many African countries, is the manner in which many decisions are made.  As a result of this, public officials influence economic and social decisions in detriment of the entire society.  This not only results in social and economic inefficiency, but also high transaction costs for society.  Additionally, biased decisions made by African politicians result in distortion of transparent and normal market operations, which creates insecurity for potential investors.  A weak tax base supports and fuels this corrupt political system.  However, corrupt decisions made by these officials is what causes the tax base to be weak in the first place.  This repeating cycle is detrimental to Africa economics and society, and only further increases the level of corruption in the various localities.  Lack of accountability, transparency, and integrity is the primary reason for this massive presence of corruption among African countries.

Sources: Veselinovic, M. (2016, January 08). Why corruption is holding Africa back. Retrieved May 05, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/24/africa/africa-corruption-transparency-international/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Causes of Poor Governance in Africa

By
Before we can talk about the effects of poor governance on the underdevelopment of Africa, we must first examine the causes of the problem. One of the foremost causes is the capacity and strength of governmental institutions in many African countries has wavered throughout the years. After many African countries gained independence in the 1960's they were not well prepared to handle the rigors of a newly independent nation, and to add to all of this they also had to deal with previous ethnic tensions exacerbated by the colonial rule  (Bräutigam and Knack 259-260) . Secondly, economic crisis is another factor in the poor governance of Africa. During the period of post-independence, African nations were struggling to pay back loans and deal with skyrocketing inflation rates. This led to understaffed government offices due to the fact that the employees were being underpaid or in some cases not even paid at all  (Bräutigam and Knack 259-260) . Lastly, another major cause of poor ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Unemployment Due to Poor Governance

By
Unemployment is a problem which plagues societies across the globe and the countries within Africa are no different in this regard. The government plays a large role in employment due to their ability to dictate policies and influence the labor markets through either legislation or investment. The problem in countries throughout Africa is that there is a disconnect in the younger and older generations when it their views on policies and organizations making decisions regarding their employment. The government faces a multitude of challenges when approaching the problem of unemployment. They have to unify the work force, invest in education and entrepreneurship, and make sure that fair wages are being offered so that people can support their families properly and not resort to other illegal methods for making an income. Growth of the economy is a foremost priority in any developing country and it is no different for the countries in Africa. Countries should invest in their youth as they...
Post a Comment
Read more

Low Economic Growth Due to Poor Governance

By
Over the years, poor governance has led to decreased economic growth in many sectors.  From rampant corruption to the implementation of detrimental economic policies, poor governance and its impact on African economics has played a major role in the development of Africa.  A large reason for these detrimental economic policies is due to botched institutions.  Instead of acting in the best interest of citizens and the country, elected officials act to pass laws that support the elite.  As a result, the general public is negatively effected in addition to the state of the economy as a whole.  These institutions exist, in large part, due to weak institutional framework; including a lack of any kind of transparency or accountability from its institutions.  Because of these botched institutions and a small tax base, elected officials regularly make decisions to reap short-term benefits rather than long-term benefits.  These short-term solutions impose a l...
Post a Comment
Read more