Cross cultural trespass: Assessing African anti-corruption capacity

Abstract

The African Union and the African Development Bank estimate that corruption costs African economies more than US$148 billion dollars each year. This leads to a loss of 50% in tax revenue, increases the cost of African goods by as much as 20% and eats away 25% of Africa's GDP. Little wonder that fighting African corruption has become serious business. One weapon being used in the battle is the anti-corruption agency. These are new features on the African governance landscape and are usually instigated and resourced by transnational agencies with a `development' brief. Yet so little is known about their functionality. This article, for the first time, brings all African anti-corruption agencies into a mega case study. Using a novel mix of data approaches the article identifies serious program failure across all anti-corruption agencies. The African anti-corruption project is crafted offshore, in social and economic contexts that are not sufficiently replicated in the African experience, and for purposes connected more to international commerce than human rights. The study contributes to a significant intellectual conflict in cross cultural management research concerned with the pros and cons of a universal management model. It does this by demonstrating causation between program failure and the ubiquitous application of a culture-free universal management model to the highly complex issue of African corruption. In practical terms the article offers designers of anti-corruption programs an alternative way of thinking about African corruption.