The article “Quiet Corruption’ Impedes African Development, World Bank Report Says” (McGregor & Nasreen, 2010) was published in the April edition of Business Week. This is an article that was initially published by the World Bank and argues that ‘quiet corruption’ is a major hindrance to the development of Africa as a continent. African newspaper headlines are dominated by graft scandals which continue to negatively affect its development. It defines ‘quiet corruption’ as the inability of public officers to provide services that have been paid by the government”(McGregor & Nasreen, 2010). The poor have been the worst affected by this form of corruption. Important services like healthcare, education and other services are in jeopardy as a result of malpractices that don’t necessarily involve monetary exchange. Gains achieved as a result of increased donor aid to Africa have been negatively affected by this type of corruption.
Additionally, different cases of small-scale corruption are highlighted by the report and these include cases of teacher and doctors’ absenteeism in schools in primary health clinics respectively. Others include theft of essential medicine from public health facilities which are then sold to private practitioners. The article acknowledges that this form of corruption is difficult to measure because it has become part and parcel of society’s norms and culture. “Small timers are justified because their bosses are big-time cheaters.”(McGregor & Nasreen, 2010). Bribing to get government contracts is mandatory for many companies operating in these countries. The report gives an example of Tanzania where a study was done and found out that almost 80% of children who died as a result of malaria had sought care in a modern facility. This could be attributed to cases like absence of diagnostic equipment, drug theft, absenteeism of staff and poor care. The report concludes that this form of corruption can only be tackled through an “integration of strong and committed political leadership, effective policies and institutions and more accountability and participation by citizens.”
The development of a particular society is dependent on many factors with culture being one of the key important determinants of a country’s development (Calvert &Calvert, 2007). Development is not only about achieving impressive digits in economic growth. It encompasses many other factors that function together to ensure effective and sustainable development (p. 123). There are many African countries experiencing impressive economic growth, but that has not translated into improved human conditions because this has not been accompanied by changes in their institutional and social framework. As such, vices like corruption and income inequalities still persist.
Therefore, development cannot be delinked from culture. Corruption is a culture that is very hard to eliminate from those who have come to associate it as a normal part of their life. Any meaningful development can only be achieved by changing this kind of mindset. It is important to appreciate the fact that any sustainable development can only be achieved through reforms in the economic, social and financial sectors of a particular country. Corruption persists because there might be lack of systems of accountability and reward, thus it becomes the only excuse for people to achieve what they cannot achieve through available ethically accepted ways (Ampratwum, 2008). For the case of Africa, poor pay might motivate a health practitioner to search for other income sources through running parallel business, hence providing poor quality service to the vulnerable members of the society.
Corruption has long term effects on the development of any economy. It is one factor that inhibits flow of direct investment to developing countries. Furthermore, most of these countries depend on donor aid that is hinged on certain conditions, one of them being a corrupt-free public sector (Lawal, 2006). Therefore, corrupt practices make it difficult for these countries f to receive donor aid that can be channeled towards improving citizens’ livelihoods. Hence, it is the common citizens who suffer in the long run as a result of inefficiencies resulting from corruption.
The article provides a succinct analysis of one of the major obstacles hindering development in African countries. The article objectively and clearly outlines many of the common day challenges facing many developing countries, especially those found in Africa.
References
Ampratwum, E. (2008). Fighting corruption for development in developing and transition economies. Journal of Money Laundering Control, 11(1): 76-89.
Calvert, P. & Calvert, S. (2007). Politics and Society in the Third World (3rd Ed.). Essex, England: Pearson’s Education Limited.
Lawal, G (2006).Corruption and development in Africa: Challenges for Political and economic change: London: Sage.
McGregor, S. & Nasreen, S. (2010). World Bank Says ‘Quiet Corruption’ damaging Africa. Web.