According to the latest report published by Transparency International on Tuesday, SSA shelters the world’s most corrupt nations. The Berlin based organization says the region has the lowest-score on its 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index, adding that it “has failed to translate its anti-corruption commitments into any real progress”. However the report highlights five countries in which there are “promising political developments” are worth watching for prospects of improvement.
For Angola, which comes near the bottom of the index in 165th place, “new leadership… provides hope for anti-corruption reforms”. In South Africa, which occupies 73rd place in the world, citizen engagement and official inquiries into corruption “are positive steps.” Transparency International also underlines Kenya and Nigeria (both in 144th place) as providing hope for improvement, as well as Botswana – already one of the African countries with the highest ranking on the index. The five least corrupt governments in Sub–Saharan Africa are perceived to be those of the Seychelles (28th in the world), Botswana (34th), Cape Verde (45th), Rwanda (48th) and Namibia (52nd). Côte d’Ivoire (105th) is one of the countries which has improved its position the most in the last seven years. In contrast to the global picture, the report describes what it calls “a sadly familiar picture” in which “the vast majority of countries assessed have made little to no progress.” This threatens democracy, says Transparency International.