Corruption And Dev Nations:That World Bank Alarm

The recent alarm raised by the World bank to the effect that a whooping $40 billion belonging to developing nations, is stolen annually and stashed in dedicated foreign accounts by corrupt leaders, presents another opportunity to address corruption and its negative impact on poor nations.

    World Bank Managing Director, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, while lamenting the perpetual under development of beggerly nations, most of them, from sub-saharan Africa, blamed their perennial backwardness on rogue leaders who, rather than address basic infrastructal needs of their people divert scarce resources into their private accounts.

This would not be the first time corruption among African leaders would attract attention of the international community, but coming from a World bank chief, without doubt, typifies the degree of the malaise and a such, must not be treated with the familiar levity of the past

Apparently disturbed by the retrogressive level of the economies and peoples of the affected nations, Okonjo-Iweala called on World leaders, especially, those of the top most industrialised nations, to address the situation, as they gather in Canada between June 26-27, this month, for the G-20 summit.

It is no secret that, in Africa and most developing nations, corruption is not merely pervading or growing but rather entrenched since independence. It is on record that corruption in Africa started about 50 years ago, when, many African nations gained independence but assumed very disturbing proportions with emergence of military dictatorships which unfavourable political and economic environment encouraged capital flight to Europe and United States of America, through the connivance of foreign crooks.

Instructively, most African countries became increasingly indebted to their colonial masters through whose stooges and foreign accomplices, legitimately acquired wealth found safe havens abroad for fear of the then prevalent economic and political uncertainties, while illegitimate wealth was easily spirited away by corrupt leaders who preferred to flee from the unconducive environment they created. In all these, the wealthy nations looked the other way, because the stolen funds boosted their own economies at the expense of the poor nations into whose development such funds should have been channeled.

A study of 33 Sub-Saharan African countries, revealed that between 1970 – 2004 private external assets far exceeded public external liabilities which made some powerful individuals far richer than their countries and by 2004 total capital flight of such countries was $443 billion compared to external debt of $195 billion.

Without doubt, capital flight has become the safest means of underdeveloping already poor nations. Besides the fact that such money ought to be used for developing such nations, it also denies the concerned masses the benefits of direct investment and  the multiplier effects of their own country’s resources. Even more painful is the fact that such monies in foreign accounts are not ever taxed by their primary owners thus denying such countries of funds, and the people left with the burden of direct denial of amenities and indirect payment of external debts.

Not only that, it is estimated that 30 per cent of every dollar spent on imports leave the country as capital flight by corrupt officials through over-invoicing of imports and under-invoicing of exports.

Also worthy of note is the high level of internal corruption in Africa which undermines the impact of investments made to meet the target of the Millennium Development Goals.

It not only caused preventable deaths but increased the number of people living on less than two dollars a day from 292 million in 1981 to 555 million in 2005.

Rather than count our gains and pride in our developmental strides since independence, it is indeed sad that African nations through their corrupt leaders are entangled in retrogressive actions that perpetually enslave their peoples over the years with the collaboration of their foreign counterparts.

This is why we support the clarion call by the World Bank to redress the situation, by enlisting the cooperation of the G-20 Summit scheduled for Canada, this weekend. With the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as members, and with countries representing 90 per cent of global gross national product, 80 per cent of World trading and two-thirds of world population, the G-20 stands the best option to tackle the menace of capital flight from developing countries.

Another way of checkmating corruption is for global bodies such as the United Nations to institute sanctions on countries like Switzerland, that directly or indirectly encourage corruption among African leaders by safeguarding their dubious secret accounts.  It will also be necessary to force such finance houses to expose identities of such ‘big-time’ customers periodically

To further tighten the noose on perpetrators of global corruption, we believe that an independent central bank for Africans, if established would help prevent corrupt officials from transferring money to foreign accounts.

But should they scale the hurdle, the masses would wish to see their corrupt leaders transparently prosecuted through functional and proactive anti corruption agencies instituted locally and internationally and strengthened to facilitate their arrest.

The World Bank also has a role to play in redressing the woes of developing countries through humane lending policies to Africa rather than imposing very strangulating conditions like structural adjustment programmes, privatisation and import liberalisation that mainly favour the developed world. It should instead help discourage corruption at the highest level through its international network.

Most importantly, the World Bank should support positive efforts at instituting democracy and good governance in African countries such as Nigeria, where, such collaboration would have immeasurable impact on current electoral and banking reforms as well as encourage other fledging anti-corruption agencies.