Blitz Bureau
South Sudan slid to the bottom of the annual Corruption Perceptions Index released by Transparency International. The East African country, with just eight points, displaced Somalia at nine. The two were followed by Venezuela with 10 and Syria with 12.
In North Africa and the Middle East, the situation of anti-corruption efforts “remains bleak” as political leaders exert near-absolute control while benefiting from wealth and clamping down on dissent, the group said.
A report published by africanews. com said the index showed many countries’ worst showing in more than a decade. Forty-seven out of the 180 surveyed countries had their lowest score last year since Transparency started using its current methodology for its global ranking in 2012.
It said of its 2024 survey that “global corruption levels remain alarmingly high, with efforts to reduce them faltering.”
Climate fund misuse
The group also pointed to worldwide risks from corruption to efforts to combat climate change. It said that a lack of transparency and accountability mechanisms increase the risk of climate funds being embezzled or misused, while “undue influence,” obstructs the approval of ambitious policies.
The organisation measures the perception of public sector corruption according to 13 data sources, including the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and private risk and consulting companies. It ranks 180 countries and territories on a scale from a ‘highly corrupt’ 0 to a ‘very clean’ 100. The global average remained unchanged from 2023 at 43, with more than two-thirds of countries scoring under 50, Transparency International said.
Denmark held on to first place with an unchanged 90 points, followed by Finland with 88 and Singapore with 84. New Zealand dropped from third to fourth, shedding two points to 83. The US slid from 69 points to 65 and from 24th place to 28th. Transparency International pointed to criticism of its judicial branch.
Other Western nations on the decline included France, which dropped four points to 67 and five places to 25th; and Germany, down three points to 75 and six places to 15th. It tied with Canada, which was down one point and three places.
Mexico dropped five points to 26 as the judiciary failed to take action in major corruption cases, Transparency International said. In Europe, Slovakia dropped five points to 49 in the first full year of Prime Minister Robert Fico’sGovernment, “as numerous reforms erode anti-corruption checks and bypass public consultation.” Russia, which already declined significantly in recent years, shed another four points to 22 last year.
