Institutional transformation as an effective tool for reducing corruption and enhancing economic growth: A panel study of West African countries

• Published date: 01 May 2022
• Author: Edmund Ntom Udemba,Ifeoma Onyenegecha,Godwin Olasehinde‐Williams
• Date: 01 May 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2389

ACADEMIC PAPER

Institutional transformation as an effective tool for reducing

corruption and enhancing economic growth: A panel study of

West African countries

Edmund Ntom Udemba

1

| Ifeoma Onyenegecha

2

| Godwin Olasehinde-Williams

3

1

Faculty of Economics, Administrative and

Social science, Istanbul Gelisim University,

Istanbul, Turkey

2

Communication and media studies, Cyprus

International University, North Cyprus, Turkey

3

School of Economics and Management,

Nanchang University, Nanchang, China

Correspondence

Edmund Ntom Udemba, Faculty of Economics,

Administrative and Social science, Istanbul

Gelisim University, Istanbul Turkey.

Email: eddy.ntom@gmail.com

Weak institutions and high levels of corruption are issues of great concern in West

Africa because of their adverse effects on the economic growth of the region. While

a significant portion of extant literature has focused on the determinants of corrup-

tion, empirical investigations of the effect of institutional quality on corruption are

still limited, especially in Africa. This paper provides empirical evidence, which shows

that improvement in the quality of governmental institutions is an effective means of

controlling corruption in West Africa. Furthermore, the paper reveals that improve-

ments in terms of the ability of governmental institutions to meet the economic

needs of the people make the most impact on the ability to curb corruption in West

Africa. Annual panel data series for14 ECOWAS countries on corruption control and

governance quality, obtained from the Worldwide Governance Indicators and

Ibrahim Index of African Governance online databases, for the period 2000–2015,

were utilized in the study.

JEL CLASSIFICATION

C33; D73; O43

1|INTRODUCTION

Africa as a continent has been faced with a variety of problems over

the past centuries. Like every other continent, there areseveral issues

uniquely associated with Africa due to the socio-political, economic,

cultural, religious, and developmental states of the continent. Between

the 19th and 20th centuries, Africa experienced the challenges of

external infiltrations, foreign dominance, and subsequent conquest.

The imperialist aggression, military invasions, distortion of peace and

serenity, and eventual scramble for Africa by the colonial powers mar-

ked the beginning of the endless vulnerability and seeming misfortune

of the continent. The era of colonialism imposed upon Africa new ways

and processes of doing things. The original “Africanness”became

slowly replaced by ways of the colonial masters. Western religions,

western education,cultural dilution, slave trade, and new styles ofgov-

ernance are some of the by-products of colonization. Austin (2005)

affirms that the imposition of colonialism on Africa altered its history

forever (Settles, 1996). Heldring and Robinson (2012) similarly argue

that colonialism negativelyimpacted the development of Africa.

Various leadership styles, or forms of government institutions,

accompanied colonialism into Africa and thereafter continued to hold

sway after the colonial era. The kinds of governance existing in vari-

ous regions and countries of Africa can be traced back to what was

practiced during the colonial era. However, the system of government

most widely used in Africa currently is democracy, although this lead-

ership style and the associated governmental institutions have been

extensively abused by both government and non-government offi-

cials, thereby aggravating corruption at different levels and institu-

tions of government. The issue of corruption in Africa is quite

alarming as virtually every sector of the society is affected by it. As an

example, in Nigeria, which is the largest and richest country in West

Africa, the endless reports on cases of corruption across different sec-

tors of the economy down to the various parastatals of government

and public departments are, according to the in Nellis (1999), possible

as a result of institutional deficiencies and non-transparent

regulations.

What these corrupt practices do is to perpetually deny citizens of

their rights and access to good things of life, impoverish the country,

Received: 8 April 2020 Revised: 5 June 2020 Accepted: 12 August 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2389

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https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2389