Speech On Corruption In Africa

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The Chairman of Bharti Airtel, Sunil Bharti Mittal, in his recent interview said that “Africa is an article of faith. I believe in this continent”. Recently, newspapers such as The Economist or the BBC have flooded their magazine with titles on Africa everywhere, calling it “the hopeful continent” or the “future breadbasket of the world”. But is Africa really rising, or are we being too optimistic? Economically, demographically, geographically, technologically, and socially, Africa has truly been growing, but maybe yet not enough to be considered as “rising”, as many inequalities, corruption, diseases, and social gaps still remain predominant. Economically, Africa is in a much better economic position today than it was at the turn of the…show more content…
Indeed, some countries like Rwanda of Ethiopia, who have begun to get economically better, have become politically noxious. South Africa, which used to be a model for the continent, is tainted with corruption. Corruption in Africa is a development issue. In 2009, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Southern Africa Representative Jonathan Lucas labelled corruption as “a crime against development, democracy, education, prosperity, public health and justice - what many would consider the pillars of social well being." Corruption stops development, as it prevents the sharing of wealth, gives no transparency and therefore takes away the trust so prevents the arrival of potential investors Indeed, Transparency International’s 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index released in October 2010, identified Africa as the most corrupt region in the world. The Berlin-based group’s 2010 list ranks six African nations among the 10 most corrupt countries of the 173 surveyed. These are Sudan, Chad, Burundi, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, with Somalia heading the list as the most corrupt nation of all those surveyed. Therefore, effectively addressing corruption on the continent must become a development imperative in order to really say that Africa is…show more content…
It is especially having a devastating impact on the economies of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone’s Agriculture Minister Joseph Sam told the BBC that "The economy has been deflated by 30% because of Ebola," in this country. He explained that "We are now coming into the planting season which means a lot of agriculture is not happening, so down the line that will create food shortages and pressures on food prices. We are starting to see a rise in inflation and pressure on the national currency as well as a shortage of foreign exchange”. It also has a big impact on the mining sector: The world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal has seen work disrupted on its iron ore mine expansion project in Yekepa in Liberia, after contractors declared "force majeure" and moved people out of the country. In Sierra Leone, commercial banks have reduced their hours of business by two hours to reduce contact with clients and the country's tourism industry has taken a severe knock - some hotels are empty and are laying off

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