Economic Confidential, October 2007

NATIONAL

IT ’s Corruption Verdict: Improvement Yet in Dirty List

…Nigeria now 31st Most Corrupt Country Out of 180 nations

… Multinationals Encourage Looting in Developing Countries

By Tunde Akin

Nigeria has moved 14 steps on the ladder of the 2007 corruption ranking of 180 countries by the Transparency International (TI), the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption. With a score of 2.2 out of 10, it is ranked 147 and remains nevertheless amongst the most corrupt countries in the world. Please go to the Facts and Figures Pages of the Economic Confidential to see the table.

The country, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by in London , ranked 31st most corrupt country, placing 147th with two other countries out of the 180 countries assessed by the global civil society organisation.

This improvement in the TI’s corruption scale may not be unconnected to the positive performance of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the fight against corruption and money laundering.

Nigeria had in 2007 ranked 17th most corrupt country following its ranking of 146 out of 163 countries surveyed. The country had previously ranked most corrupt country in the world in 2003, second most corrupt country in 2004 and third most corrupt country in 2005.

Nigeria ’s improvement on the global corruption ranking comes barely 10 days after the United States President, George Bush, commended the EFCC for the seizure of millions in proceeds of crime, and its anti-money laundering efforts.

In latest CPI 2007, Myanmar and Somalia were jointly ranked most corrupt countries, with both countries scoring 1.4 out of 10 points to place a distant 179, while Denmark edged upwards to share the top score of 9.4 with perennial high-flyers Finland and New Zealand.

The CPI score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts, and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).

Nigeria scored 2.2 out of 10 points to rank 147th along with Angola and Guinea-Bissau. The country had also scored 2.2 out of 10 points to rank 142nd out of 163 countries surveyed.

According to a reliable source Nigeria’s improving on the corruption scale had to do with the workings of the EFCC and the National Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which were established by the previous administration. It was disclosed that Nigeria is gradually moving out of the unhealthy position. The improvement is reflective of what is going on in the country, especially with the EFCC, NEITI, transparency in public sector management, strong media and strong civil society. Tremendous efforts have been made by the federal Government and people of Nigeria in the fight against corruption and recovery of looted funds. Bunkering in the Niger Delta is being curtailed, which is a big success.

The TI was established in 1993 in Berlin , Germany , to lead the fight against corruption and annually ranks countries in terms of the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians.

TI Chairman, Huguette Labelle, who launched the latest CPI in London , admitted that corruption by high-level public officials in poor countries had an international dimension that implicates the CPI’s top scorers.

According to her, bribe money often stems from multinationals based in the world’s richest countries. “It can no longer be acceptable for these companies to regard bribery in export markets as a legitimate business strategy. In addition, global financial centres play a pivotal role in allowing corrupt officials to move, hide and invest their illicitly gained wealth.

“Offshore financing, for example, played a crucial role in the looting of millions from developing countries such as Nigeria and the Philippines , facilitating the misdeeds of corrupt leaders and impoverishing those they governed,” Labelle explained.

She said concerted measures were urgently needed in rich and poor countries to stem flow of corrupt monies and make justice work for the poor adding that the divide in perceived levels of corruption in rich and poor countries remained as sharp as ever.

She pointed out that developed and developing countries must share responsibility for reducing corruption, in tackling both the supply and demand sides. Despite some gains, corruption remains an enormous drain on resources sorely needed for education, health and infrastructure.  Labelle stated.

The TI chairman advised low scoring countries to take the latest corruption results seriously and immediately strengthen accountability in public institutions. “But action from top scoring countries is just as important, particularly in cracking down on corrupt activity in the private sector,” she added.

Details of the CPI 2007 further showed a strong correlation between corruption and poverty. According to the report, 40 per cent of those scoring below three, indicating that corruption is perceived as rampant, are classified by the World Bank as low income countries.

Besides Denmark , Finland and New Zealand , which were ranked joint first, the latest report ranked Singapore and Sweden as joint fourth least corrupt countries for scoring 9.3 points. Iceland placed sixth least corrupt country with a score of 9.2, while Netherlands and Switzerland were also ranked joint seven least corrupt countries with each scoring 9.0.

Botswana led pack of African countries on the TI’s Corruption Perceptions Index, ranking 38th with a score of 5.4. The African countries ranked among the most corrupt countries include: Somalia (179th), Sudan (172nd), Chad (172nd), Guinea (168th), Equitorial Guinea (168th) and Democratic Republic of Congo (168th), with a score of 1.4, 1.8, 1.8, 1.9, 1.9 and 1.9, respectively. Please go to our Economic Confidential's Facts and Figures page to see the tables of the Clean, Not too Clean and the Dirty Countries on the CPI.