Using Electronic Payment Programs as an Anti-Corruption Strategy in Africa

Abstract

The theft of public revenues is a daily ethical failing associated with corruption in African countries. Yet many government sectors and agencies in Africa have failed to use ICTs to create the required culture of transparency. What do recent literature and empirical research findings reveal about solutions to these problems? Thus, the primary focus of this chapter is to conduct an extensive literature review on how electronic payment programs can be used as an anti-corruption strategy in Africa. Given the complex nature of corruption, the focus in this proposed chapter is to understand how other developing countries like Malaysia have successfully used electronic payment programs to reduce corruption and improve national accountability. A critical review of the observed ambiguity in the contemporary definition of corruption from different cultures in Africa will be reviewed. The ambiguity of the true commitment of African power elites in fighting corruption will also be examined with alternative solutions from existing literature.