Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Africa isn't poor because of corruption

It is too easy to blame all of Africa's problems on corruption...

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Africa isn't poor because of corruption: "The issue hung heavily over the summit but it is too simplistic to argue Africa is poor because of corruption or that all aid efforts are doomed because of it. The economist Jeffrey Sachs, an adviser to the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, discards the conclusion. The poor are poor, he says, because failing infrastructure, poor energy sources, geographic isolation, disease and natural disasters inevitably conspire to foil progress.

Transparency International ranks Mali fairly high in terms of honesty, yet it is still dirt poor, plagued by flash flooding, earthquakes and an ever-expanding desert. Perversely, there are some countries which have achieved economic growth while still having high levels of corruption. China only ranks slightly better than Mali for corruption and the burgeoning Indian economy ranks well below.

Tony Blair's Commission for Africa report challenges industrialised countries to take responsibility for their role in promoting corruption, such as giving bribes or ignoring corrupt deals. Industrialised countries must work to repatriate money and state assets stolen from the people of Africa by corrupt leaders.

Foreign banks must also be obliged by law to inform on suspicious accounts. Those who give bribes should be dealt with too; foreign firms must be more transparent and those that bribe should be refused export credits.

But African nations must be more accountable for the aid they receive"...

It must also be remembered that debt relief - provided through the World Bank/IMF debt relief programme - has reaped some rewards. Tanzania has harnessed the savings to end school fees for primary school children and expects to achieve universal primary education by 2006. By 2002-2003 there was almost a 50% increase in the number attending primary school since debt relief was granted in 2001.

Corruption is a serious issue but it is not insurmountable and it should not be used as a simplistic excuse to attack policy change aimed at reducing the debt burden and increasing aid to poor countries.

· Rudo Kwaramba is advocacy director of the charity World Vision.