Corruption Hinders Economic Development - Mahama To Africans

Former President Mahama is calling on Africans in both the public and private sectors to fight corruption. Mr. Mahama described corruption as an economic malady that hinders development. He raised concerns about graft, which he said thrives due to the layered irresponsibility of institutions and state actors who are required to fight it.

The former president made these comments when he was the Special Guest at the 53rd Annual Conference of the Nigeria Institution of Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) under the theme, Asset Valuation as a Global Anti-Corruption Tool: The Nigeria Experience. Because corruption is a global challenge, its scope and seriousness have led to calls for a worldwide response and cooperation in the fight against it.

Corruption is an economic malady. Mr Chairman, corruption hinders economic development, diverts investments from infrastructure, institutions, and social services, and undermines efforts to achieve other country-specific development goals and targets. And we all know why. Graft thrives due to the layered irresponsibility of institutions and state actors that must fight it.

Whichever way you visualise it, corruption must be fought whether it occurs in the public or private sector He highlighted discretionary power, economic rent, strong legal system as elements required to fight corruption. There are at least three elements required for corruption to occur. First, someone must have discretionary power, which includes the ability to influence the formulation of regulations and administer them.

Second, economic rent must be associated with discretionary power, primarily when higher rents are related to the misuse of discretionary power. Third, when the governance or legal system offers a sufficiently low probability of detection or sanction for wrongdoing, the flagbearer of NDC posited.

According to him, corruption scares investors away from investing in a country. Corruption also retards growth because bribes paid by investors to secure investment licenses, including building permits, increase the cost of doing business and, consequently, reduces the incentive to invest in a country. Corruption also has adverse effects on productivity.

If the permits and licenses needed by innovators or new producers are obtained by paying bribes, that could impede the entry of new goods or technology onto the markets of many economies, he asserted. Mr. Mahama advised the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers to champion efforts to enhance data availability.

Finally, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers must champion efforts to enhance real-time data availability, improve technology adoption for land and real estate services online, and formulate relevant legislation for property management, he urged.