Corruption can be broadly defined as ‘the abuse of public office for private gain’. This definition encompasses various forms of misconduct – including bribery, extortion, fraud and embezzlement – and can involve not only individuals in public office, but also those in corporate roles, or with significant influence or resources. The benefits gained can be personal, collective or even non-financial.

In the developed world, such as Europe and North America, when ‘corruption’ is mentioned, the finger is most often pointed towards Africa as an example of where it is most prevalent and has damaged (and continues to damage) the continent. This narrative is reinforced by Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, where the highest scoring African country was Botswana at 43, with South Sudan ranked the lowest at 180. By comparison, the UK was ranked 20th.

Although not the primary subject of this article, from a personal perspective, I ought to highlight my disagreement with that analysis. Africa undoubtedly scores poorly and receives a bad press on this subject; however, my view is that the reality is more complex. Corruption frequently starts in the developed world, including China, and ends in the developed world. Put quite simply, multinational companies based in the developed world are often the ones offering bribes to African government officials to win contracts. Those bribes are then placed either in bank accounts or used to purchase assets in those same developed world countries. And few questions have been asked about where those monies came from.

My view is widely shared across Africa: when I speak to African government officials about corruption, the conversation often turns to corruption in the UK. Many argue that the United Kingdom is just as corrupt, if not more, than their own country. They often cite the example of senior British government officials, who after awarding significant public infrastructure contracts, take a high-paying role at the winning supplier company when they leave government. African government officials describe this as ‘corrupt’ – but more subtle, since the reward comes later in the form of a highly paid job with good benefits after the event, rather than bribes received at the time of the contract award. It is difficult to argue against that analysis.

So, without doubt, Africa has a problem with corruption, as does much of the world and more could be done across the global financial and corporate community to address this.  

At the same time, it is imperative that Africa also up its game in terms of anti-corruption measures – and I can already see this happening. Why is it so important now? I believe Africa is at a critical turning point in its development, and by reducing perceived levels of corruption, the continent will greatly improve its ability to attract investment and thrive.

To understand why this tipping point is imminent, one must first understand the five pillars of production, being land, energy, minerals, labour and finance.

Africa is a huge continent with much of its land being relatively unutilised. So, there is room for development. The topography lends itself to the development of natural energy resources such as wind, solar, geothermal and hydro. These energy sources can be used to power domestic growth in Africa and generate revenue for future local development. For example, Morocco has invested in its own large solar-powered generators and plans are underway to increase capacity and export electricity to the UK via undersea cables. 

Beneath Africa’s land lies huge reserves of critical minerals that are essential for the global transition to net zero. Meanwhile, the surface above is fertile and capable of supporting the growing population and generating additional funds for investment.

There is no shortage of people who can help to drive this growth: Africa has one of the world’s fastest growing populations, with the larger majority under the age of 26. This young, well educated, ‘tech-savvy’ generation is eager to contribute.

So, putting this all together, Africa has all the ingredients in place for phenomenal growth that would not only benefit its local economies, but also developed countries seeking new markets for their products. However, for Africa to truly capitalise on its potential it needs to be more than a simple exporter of raw materials, energy and labour.  

If only it could, for example, extract the lithium from the ground, build batteries locally and even start to develop a larger automotive manufacturing sector, more profits would remain in Africa to fund more growth. At the moment, the lithium being mined and exported generates relatively low royalties and taxes (caused by under-declaration of exports in addition to historically low charges negotiated by previous government officials who have received something in return) for the African country, and miners are paid relatively low wages. If the batteries were built locally, there would be more and better paid skilled jobs in the continent and the resulting value would be tens (if not hundreds) of times greater than the royalties and taxes. Africa would not have to re-import expensive items that it could produce locally at a much-reduced cost.

This transformation requires both finance and confidence. And critically, the finance needs to be local, so that any gains can be re-invested in Africa by Africans. Encouragingly, this is starting to happen. Institutions such as the African Development Bank and African Export and Import Bank are providing funds derived from African sources for re-investment in Africa. But more local investment is needed.

To mobilise more finance for Africa, there needs there to be an increase in investor confidence in Africa and a reduction in perceived risk. And here we return to the perception that there are high levels of corruption in Africa: the enduring narrative when a new African government takes power, is that it is their ‘time to eat’ – drawing from a Kenyan proverb that refers to the idea of a turn for ‘us’ to benefit from resources that have been previously controlled by a privileged few. Whilst historically true, I believe this mindset is outdated and changing.

In West Africa, Nigeria is a compelling example. Despite many changes of government over more than a decade, the Federal Republic of Nigeria pursued (P&ID) over an USD 6.6 billion arbitration award rendered against it in 2017. The case arose from a gas supply and processing agreement between P&ID and the Nigerian Ministry of Petroleum Resources. Nigeria contested the award, arguing that the contract was procured through bribery and that P&ID presented perjured evidence. The English High Court found a “strong prima facie case” supporting these allegations, leading to a full hearing to determine whether the award should be set aside. The award along with the resulting accrued interest (totalling over USD 11 billion) was set aside in October 2023. Each government that followed the government of the time of the original contract could have capitulated, but this one did not as it sought to send a message to the world that things had changed in Nigeria and that corruption was not acceptable.

In Liberia, the Assets Recovery and Property Retrieval Taskforce, an initiative by President Joseph Nyuma Boakai, was set up to trace, recover and reclaim stolen public assets. Similarly, in Ghana, President John Mahama has declared that Ghana is no longer a “safe haven for corruption”. Ghana’s anti-corruption initiative Operation Recover All Loot, setup in January 2025 is already investigating 36 high-profile cases alone which could recover as much as USD 20.49 billion.

There are similar stories in the rest of Africa. The ‘Tuna Bonds’ Scandal in Mozambique has been well publicised. Based on less well publicised cases, I also know of other long running investigations in Eastern and Southern Africa that are making progress, albeit slowly, but at least they are happening.

So, the tide is turning. Confidence in Africa is increasing, making it a more compelling case for both foreign and local investment. As trust increases, the type of investments made will shift from the extraction industries to added value manufacturing, with long-term benefits for local economies.

This progress will require changes in the developing world, such as robust prosecution of foreign companies who are caught bribing African officials and greater scrutiny of suspicious monies emanating from Africa. Unfortunately, there have been some worrying backward steps in this regard.  

In February of this year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order entitled Pausing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement to Further American Economic and National Security. The order directed the US Attorney General (AG) to review and update guidelines and policies governing the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and to cease initiating any new FCPA investigations and enforcement actions. The order had immediate effect, and the AG had 180 to 360 days to adopt a new enforcement policy to “restore proper bounds on FCPA enforcement and preserve Presidential foreign policy prerogatives”.

Similarly, the UK government has encouraged regulators to row back on rules in the name of economic growth. Meanwhile, both governments have reduced or removed foreign aid budgets that have historically supported civil society efforts to combat corruption polices and hold governments to account. 

Less scrutiny, fewer rules and diminished accountability capabilities can only lead to more corruption, more laundering of funds and ultimately, more poverty. If we are serious about fighting corruption, we must do so at both ends of the chain.

Andrew Durant is a senior advisor in FTI Consulting’s London forensic and litigation consulting team.