The leading organization of civil society that is committed to transparency and integrity of public and economic life, recently released the 2014 edition of its annual report on the state of the level of corruption on the planet. In the report, it appears that while the western and northern Europe are the least corrupt regions in the world, with an average score of 66/100. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most corrupt region in the world with an average score of 33/100.
The republic of Denmark is the least corrupt country in the world (92/100). New Zealand (91/100) and Finland (89/100) complete the top three. In Africa, Botswana, 31st in the world ranking, is the least corrupt country with a score of 63/100. It is followed by Cape Verde (57/100) and the Seychelles (55/100). North Korea and Somalia are good for their last in this ranking with 8/100.
The main finding that comes out from this report is that the countries that are developing their economies in Africa as South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Kenya, Ghana, etc. are plagued by serious corruption problems. With the exception to Mauritius, no African nation is above average (50/100), while Rwanda (49/100), Ghana (48/100) of South Africa (44/100) and Senegal (43/100) are below 43/100. Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, ranks among the worst performers 27/100.
Note that Transparency International is a non-governmental civil society that is committed to transparency and integrity of public and economic life. It raises awareness of the devastating effects of corruption and works with governments, private sector and civil society to develop and implement measures to combat corruption.