The 2024 Corruption Perception Index is out

Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (2024) is out.

The index measures the perceived level of corruption in the public sector using data from 13 different sources.

The exercise is completed by a group of experts – businesspersons and academics.

Each country scores anywhere between zero (very corrupt) and a hundred (not corrupt).

In addition, countries are ranked – globally and regionally.

There is a one-year lag which means 2024 rankings and scores are based on 2023 data.

The index captures corruption in 10 broad areas – bribery; diversion of public funds; officials using their public office for private gain without facing consequences; ability of governments to contain corruption in the public sector; excessive red tape in the public sector which may increase opportunities for corruption; nepotistic appointments in the civil service; laws ensuring that public officials must disclose their finances and potential conflicts of interest; legal protection for people who report cases of bribery and corruption; state capture by narrow vested interests; and having access to information on public affairs/government activities.

G­­lobal context

Before proceeding to examine Ghana’s performance and the implications for the country’s fight against corruption, here are some global highlights from the report.

• In terms of scores, 32 countries improved, 47 declined and 101 remained the same.

• Across six regions, Sub-Saharan Africa ranks bottom based on its average score (33) across all 49 countries.

The average scores for the remaining regions are as follows – The Americas (42); Asia Pacific (42); Eastern Europe and Central Asia (35); Middle East and North Africa (39); Western Europe/European Union (64). 

• Regime type affects performance on the corruption index.

Full democracies had the highest average score (73) compared to the rest as follows – Flawed democracies (47), Hybrid regimes (37) and Authoritarian governments (29).

• The openness of a country’s civic space also affects performance on the index.

Countries whose civic space is classified as “open” had the highest average score (70) compared to the rest as follows – narrowed (51), obstructed (38), repressed (31) and closed (29).

• Lastly, a country’s development trajectory also affects performance on the index.

Among countries classified as “very high” on the Human Development Index had the highest average score (60) compared to the rest as follows – High (38), medium (31) and low (29). 

Ghana’s performance

How did Ghana perform on the 2024 index? Overall, Ghana scored 42 out of a possible 100 points and ranked 80 out of a total of 180 countries on the index.

Ghana’s performance highlights three important things.

First, the country’s score remains unchanged in any significant way over the last five years – 42 (2024), 43 (2023), 43 (2022), 43 (2021), and 43 (2020).

This implies or translates into no real progress in the fight against corruption. 

Second, Transparency International provides additional data to help countries assess whether their scores have improved significantly over time.

A list of countries whose scores have significantly improved over time in comparison to their 2024 score was provided as part of this year’s release.

The data shows that since 2012, Ghana’s score has not changed significantly.

This does not withstand the fact that Ghana has scored higher in the past – 48(2014), or 47 (2015) compared to its current score of 42.

Again, it reiterates the point made above that we are yet to make strong headway when it comes to our fight against corruption.

Third, is the change in Ghana’s global ranking among the 180 countries.

In 2024, it ranked 80th compared to 70th a year before.

This rank brings us back to our 2018 level (81st).

This is a 10-spot drop (2023 vs 2024) in rank, reinforcing the point made above regarding the lack of real progress in our fight against corruption.

Way forward

What is baffling about the lack of real progress in our fight against corruption, as captured by this index is the fact that Ghana has several anti-corruption agencies.

In addition, there are laws in the book which address all the 10 broad categories of corruption measured by the index.

The question then is, against this backdrop, why is the fight against corruption not yielding the desired results?

In public conversations, some have alluded to the lack of political will to fight corruption, especially when it involves people associated with a ruling government/party.

Others have pointed to the lack of real consequences for engaging in corruption activities.

Some have pointed to political party financing and government procurement processes as contributors to our inability to fight corruption well.

Add to the above, the fact that our democracy is classified as “flawed” and our civic space as “obstructed.”

I end with a question. How do we as a country plan to use this information to rethink and retool our fight against corruption? 

The writer is the Project Director, Democracy Project.