24 October 2008
Lagos — The World Bank has stated that Nigeria is a startling example of reduced corruption in Africa .
The World Bank said in a statement made available to the the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja that the biggest gain by far was registered by Nigeria , whose score had risen by 93 per cent, albeit from a very low base. Nigeria moved up 11 places in the world league table to 121 from 132.
The bank said that Nigeria 's performance was against the judgment of all the "reform-minded" agencies, including the OECD, which argued that "low corruption is good for growth and investment, but the regional figures suggest otherwise".
"All of which is bad news for reform-minded agencies like the OECD, IMF and World Bank," it said. It particularly commended China's significant aid and investment in African countries including Nigeria.
The World Bank said that China had concentrated its aid in Angola ,Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan where corruption had been high.
"This means that it is no longer possible to argue that corruption deters foreign direct investment," it said. It said that of the 47 Sub-Saharan countries ranked in the 2008 survey, 64 per cent score less than three out of 10, a level that, according to Transparency International, indicates rampant corruption. Just three states, Botswana, Cape Verde and Mauritius score above the index's mid-point, it said. In one country, Malawi, they are unchanged, while in eight countries in the bottom half of the table, the situation has deteriorated.
Only one other African country, Madagascar , has improved its standing and then only by three places.
The main losers in terms of rankings are Sudan (down 67 places), The Gambia (66 places) and Zimbabwe (60), followed by Congo (Brazzaville) and Sierra Leone , both down 45 places, Ethiopia (down 34), Côte dIvoire (33) and Malawi (32).
Southern African states such as Botswana , Mauritius, South Africa andNamibia top the table. While resource-rich nations, especially oil exporters ( Sudan, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo , Angola , Congo andNigeria) cluster around the bottom. "What this means is that, in recent years especially, economicgrowth has not been correlated with low levels of corruption," the report said.
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