CORRUPTION: THE MAJOR THREAT TO AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION

Résumé

The African continent is endowed with both human and natural resources. It has also attracted development aids and grants from the developed and concerned nations of the world. Despite these, the continent remains undeveloped. Different reasons have been attributed to the Africa’s development crisis. The paper pinpoints that corruption is the core reason behind Africa’s underdevelopment. Corruption has continued to plague numerous sectors of the African economy. It has been identified as one of the greatest challenges militating against Africa’s development. The upsurge of corruption in Africa in recent times is disturbing, pathetic and pitiable. This paper, therefore, is aimed atidentifying the causes and how to address the prevalence of corruption in Africa.The study will further examine the extent of the effect of corruption on the development of Africa. The effects of corruption on the continent vary from one country to another. Literature on the effects of corruption in Africa shows the following: high rate of illiteracy, poverty, youth restiveness, discourages investors, increased social evil, insecurity, political instability and so on. Workable recommendations are made, aimed at addressing the identified challenge of corruption facing the continent. Among other recommendations, the paper strongly supports policy reforms (especially economic and legal) in the continent and recommends a review of the ongoing policies (especially anti-corruption policies) towards ensuring effective control of corruption in the continent.