WILLIAM GUMEDE | Stop the excuses, Africa - tackle the elephant and become a tiger

Unless citizens stop electing corrupt parties and leaders, African countries risk remaining, for many generations, on the depressingly long postcolonial run of state collapse, underdevelopment and violent disorder. This while poor countries in other regions leapfrog to prosperity.

Supporting such people is toxic and the continent’s states will only escape such dire fates if their people unleash on Africa’s current trajectory the shock required to move towards industrialisation, development and peace. 

It is poorly understood on the continent that its countries will be unable to lift themselves out of poverty, underdevelopment and social disorder unless they decisively tackle corruption.

East Asian “tiger” economies or developmental states outperformed all developing and African countries after the Second World War because they understood the importance of tackling corruption as a prerequisite for development, nation-building and peace — and did so decisively.

Many citizens of Africa, and SA since the end of formal apartheid in 1994, appear not to realise that unless corruption is decisively tackled, there is not an iota of a chance for their countries to prosper, leveraging budgets, resources and planning required for development.

Governing parties and leaders are often deeply corrupt, making it impossible to eradicate the scourge. Pointing out its devastating consequences is often wrongly dismissed by Africans as a “western conspiracy”.

Depressingly, despite perpetual state collapse, poverty and violence because of corruption, it is still seen by many as harmless, as captured in the oft-repeated fallacy that corruption “does not kill”. In certain instances it is seen as legitimate, with some arguing it is acceptable in African “cultures” and a fringe benefit for leaders — and anyone else who can get away with it.

Since the end of colonialism and apartheid, corruption has been the single biggest destroyer of African lives, livelihoods and futures. It was largely to blame for the overwhelming majority of 54 African countries having collapsed into failed states, being plunged into civil war or becoming poorer than they were during colonialism.

Unlike most African and developing countries immediately after colonialism, East Asian developmental states determinedly tackled corruption. From the start, Singapore’s People’s Action Party (PAP) was firm, prosecuting its leaders for corruption to show they were not above the law, as in many postcolonial societies.

The PAP defined corruption as including elected and public representatives living beyond their means or being unable to explain wealth, property or assets. Some East Asian tiger economies executed such officials.

In Japan, the original tiger economy, shame meant corrupt individuals were ostracised by family, communities and in public. This was a big deterrent.

Corruption has put African countries on a path of perpetual collapse, developmental failure and social disorder because of the deep-seated ways in which it destroys every aspect of life.   

Corruption undermines households, the state, democratic institutions, business and civil society. State capacity is crucial in industrialisation, development and preventing violent societal breakdowns.

Corruption prevents competent people from being appointed to the public service, state entities and democratic institutions. This undermines the capacity of the state to steer industrialisation, provide critical public services and protect citizens.

Corruption undermines policies, rules and laws, and their effective implementation. It undermines institutions managing development, industrialisation and peace. 

Corruption depletes the resources available for public services, industrialisation and the protection of citizens. The human capital development so key under successful East Asian tigers has not been possible in Africa because of corruption. No genuine human capital is possible under corrupt regimes, as money for education, skills and training is siphoned off. Naturally, under high levels of corruption, business is unlikely to invest in skills.

Corruption prioritises the short-term gains of the corrupt. Therefore, it inculcates a short-term culture across society and undermines long-term state, business and societal planning.

With high levels of corruption every citizen grabs what they can in the short-term, as confidence in government is eroded. In Africa, long-term planning, a pillar of the East Asian tiger economies, is not possible amid high levels of corruption. It’s not surprising little long-term planning has occurred in African countries since the end of colonialism.

In most cases on the continent, debate about public policies, choices and laws is corrupted by leaders and governing parties, turned into sloganeering, ideology or outright lies. Economic growth, industrialisation and peace are impossible without honest discussions about public policies, choices and the laws needed to make them possible.

Corruption deters local and international investors. It undermines the trust in government necessary to build social pacts between the state, business, trade unions and civil society.

Corruption creates alternative criminal “institutions”, networks and “rules”, whether at community, public service or state company level. This circumvents official policies, drains resources and corrodes institutions. Getting rid of these alternatives is not easy once they are entrenched as the “real” development institutions and networks.

Until Africa’s citizens stop voting for the corrupt based on ethnic, struggle, religion, language, colour and regional considerations, African countries will continue on a seemingly fixed path to state collapse, underdevelopment and violent disorder. It’s time they elected leaders based on competence, honesty and compassion.

William Gumede is associate professor, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand, and author of ‘South Africa in BRICS’ (Tafelberg).

This is an edited extract from his 2022 Sol Plaatje Annual Lecture, ‘The East Asian Developmental States: Lessons for Developing Countries’, delivered at Sol Plaatje University, Kimberley, on October 7.