Corruption : the Erosion of African Economic Standards

Africa has during the past decades experienced vast difficulties in inducing greater levels of economic growth, which in turn has stirred intensive debates in an attempt to unveil its causes. A dawning debate to surface during recent years places corruption as a potent obstacle to impede and dent African economic progress. Embracing a theoretical and regression analysis, this thesis sets out to unravel the causes of African corruption, its implications, and its effects upon the economic standards of a number of selected countries. The findings reveal that corruption, amid all time-periods analyzed, discloses a strong deleterious impact upon GNI per capita primarily by damaging and undermining the African insti-tutional framework, which in turn is unable to function optimally. The outcome is that less economic progress [and thus lower levels of income] is being generated as resources are allocated and squandered in a non-optimal way. It is also substantiated that Protestantism and a high degree of homogeneity are factors that exercise a positive influence upon corruption and economic standards. The thesis finally illuminates the intricate and ubiquitous impediments that obscure Africa’s economic progress. It is concluded that inept governments and institutions too often lie at the core of the quandary. The current standard of Africa’s governments and institutions thus often leave much to be desired