Tags : Africa, bribery, corruption, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, Algeria,
By Belkacem Ahcene Djaballah
Most recently, the African Development Bank issued a warning about the scourge of corruption, which costs Africa 25% of its GDP, thereby jeopardizing the continent’s growth prospects. For its part, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed that no less than US$1 trillion is paid in bribes globally, and US$2.6 trillion is embezzled.
Africa is certainly not immune, and the figures are just as significant, if not more so, in Europe and the Americas, with far more sophisticated techniques. We need only recall « Moroccogate » in 2022, which implicated the European Parliament, and a former French President, a « bag carrier » laden with banknotes—a « gift » from another state to help him win his election campaign. All these warnings are nothing new; for decades now, economic and financial crime, which is corruption, has been wreaking havoc, even escalating as techniques improve with the rise of ICT.
Traditional mafias—Camorra, Cosa Nostra, Yakuza, ‘Ndrangheta, and others—have quickly found themselves largely outmatched, as corruption has become « democratized » (sic!) and even « institutionalized » (re-sic!) in certain countries and at certain times (we know a thing or two about that!), even reaching the popular strata of society. A « jack-of-all-trades » corruption! We no longer « grease palms » or simply « dip a finger in the honey » in passing. Baksheesh, tips, « ettakrimate »?
Obsolete, forgotten, crushed! Algeria is not unscathed by this maelstrom (note: The late M-S Benyahia, then Minister of Finance, put forward the figure of over 2,000 « new billionaires, » and a newspaper in 1978 provided the figure of 3,550. This was incomprehensible during a period of « socialism »! And yet.
Furthermore, in 2022, it was estimated that the amount of money abroad, embezzled by national « oligarchs » and due to be recovered by Algeria, amounted to €4.5 billion.). Popular memory still recalls it. And the trauma endures, passed down by elders and by public rumor, which is always uncontrollable. Worse still, during the 1990s, a former Minister of Planning and former Prime Minister stated in a public conference on March 20, 1990, that 20% of contracts with foreign entities were embezzled, amounting to approximately US$26 billion, based on the words of another, more cautious and less committed Prime Minister, who spoke of « import overpricing. »
This « accusation » caused a huge stir with disastrous, catastrophic political consequences, as the radical political oppositions of the time seized upon the affair to present themselves as champions of justice. Moreover, public opinion adopted the « magic » figure to name certain residential areas, even to this day, « 26 Billion Estates. » A registered name!
Three decades later, and despite many regulations and bodies fighting this « Evil, » both elsewhere and in our own country, one gets the impression that people don’t learn their lessons, no matter how severe they may be. And every day, more serious misdeeds are reported. Sometimes contaminating certain institutions that should be the most respected and respectable. This forces public authorities to multiply barriers, texts, and control and sanction measures. So far, almost all professional corporations have been contaminated. Some of their members quickly settled down and fell in line, but others are still looking for less dangerous ways and means to escape the law. Forms range from the most complex to the most naive. But, overall, the problem persists.
Most recently, here in Algeria, the prize was taken by a Professor of Medicine, a surgeon no less! He was caught red-handed receiving a bribe, following a complaint filed by an individual. This person had reported the doctor to the gendarmerie, with photos of the banknotes, for demanding money in exchange for a medical procedure. Unbelievable, but unfortunately true.
Jean Daniel, the French journalist of Blidaian origin, very close to our country, wrote about Algeria during the « Red Decade »: « When you hit rock bottom, the only way is up. » Against terrorism? We succeeded. Against Covid? We succeeded… Always at a high price, of course. But when it comes to corruption, we seem to be digging even deeper!
Source : Le Quotidien d’Oran
#Africa #Corruption #Bribery
