Global anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI), has again ranked Nigeria low in its 2018 Corruption Perception Perception Index (CPI) released on recently.
The latest ranking has Nigeria in the 144th position out of 180 (Last year Nigeria was ranked 148th). Nigeria, according to the CPI, scored 27 out 100, a figure lower than the average in the Sub-Sharan region.
CPI score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as experienced by business people and analysts and ranges between 100 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).
Nigeria’s latest placement indicates that the country is making progress in its fight against corruption, Listwand reports.
Sub-Saharan Africa Overview
Seychelles is the least corrupt country in Africa, scoring 66 out of 100. Seychelles is followed by Botswana and Cabo Verde, with scores of 61 and 57 respectively.
At the very bottom of the index for the seventh year in a row, Somalia scores 10 points, followed by South Sudan (13) to round out the lowest scores in the region.
With an average score of just 32, Sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest scoring region on the index, followed closely by Eastern Europe and Central Asia, with an average score of 35.
“The Sub Saharan region remains a region of stark political and socio-economic contrasts and many longstanding challenges. While a large number of countries have adopted democratic principles of governance, several are still governed by authoritarian and semi-authoritarian leaders. Autocratic regimes, civil strife, weak institutions and unresponsive political systems continue to undermine anti-corruption efforts” Transparency International
Countries like Seychelles and Botswana, which score higher on the CPI than other countries in the region, have a few attributes in common. Both have relatively well-functioning democratic and governance systems, which help contribute to their scores. However, these countries are the exception rather than the norm in a region where most democratic principles are at risk and corruption is high.
