News and Ideas (27)
Article from Inside Philanthropy
There are a lot of problems that ail the African continent. Extreme poverty, conflict, water and sanitation issues, and food insecurity are all concerns that receive a good deal of attention from funders and NGOs. Corruption, too, has been a major focus of grantmaking that we've written about here.
But one niche in the corruption field that we haven't talked about much is illicit financial flows. The Ford Foundation is among those funders that care about Africa’s dirty money problem, and it recently made a $3 million grant to back TrustAfrica’s advocacy efforts in this area.
By Sue-Lynn Moses
Briggs Bomba-- Africa: Why Are We So Poor? Yet We Are So Rich?
Written by Fatou Published in News and IdeasPublished in allAfrica.com
Briggs Bomba calls for domestic resources to be mobilized to bring about inclusive development in Africa, in particular by stopping the illicit flow of money out of the continent.
West Africa: West African livelihoods weakened by graft
Written by Fatou Published in News and IdeasPoor public services in many West African countries, with already dire human development indicators, are under constant pressure from pervasive corruption. Observers say graft is corroding proper governance and causing growing numbers of people to sink into poverty.
“If you want to put a human face to corruption… then see how we have kids who walk miles to school because there are no public transport systems,” said Harold Aidoo, the executive director of the Institute for Research and Democratic Development in Monrovia, the Liberian capital.
“You see women and mothers who give birth and die because there are no basic drugs or equipment at the hospitals, and no qualified or trained health professionals. You realize that many of our impoverished populations do not have access to clean drinking water,” he said.
More West African countries were perceived to be highly corrupt in 2013 than the previous year due to the effects of political instability in countries such as Mali, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau, according to the corruption index compiled by the global watchdog, Transparency International.
