‘Pandemic in a Pandemic’: Covid-19, Public Procurement Corruption and Illicit Financial Flows in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Public procurement in Sub-Saharan Africa has become synonymous with corruption, and the region faces difficulty separating the two. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that for most Sub-Saharan countries, public procurement spending constitutes 15% to 30% of the national Gross Domestic Product. With the COVID-19 pandemic sharply escalating public spending, most Sub-Saharan African countries are experiencing unprecedented losses due to corruption in public procurement and the illicit financial flows that result. Corruption in public procurement in most Sub-Saharan African countries can be explained using a ‘3-Gear Corruption Model.’ This model depicts the foundational structures of corruption, namely private individuals, private institutions, public officials and state linked institutions. The model explains how the corruption dynamics play out and eventually feed into the public procurement ecosystem. Solutions to corruption and illicit financial flows must therefore acknowledge the relationship of these gears. The larger gear (1) is more influential than the smaller gears (2 and 3); therefore, more energy should be expended on addressing the bigger gear. Informed by this model, this essay proposes a number of actionable policies and measures to deal with corruption in public procurement, such as E-procurement systems, protection of civil liberties, and strengthening institutions. The government holds a central role in solving these problems, so success is highly dependent on the government’s commitment to dealing with the scourge of corruption.