E-Government Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa as a Strategy for Reducing Corruption in the Public Sector: A Comparative Assessment of Sub-Regional Performance

Abstract

This paper examines the e-government initiative as a strategy for reducing corruption in Sub Saharan Africa. Many governments globally have started appreciating the need for increased openness and transparency in their government and this has led to the adoption of e-government as a means of curbing corruption by some African leaders. The purpose of this study was to examine corruption levels in South Saharan Africa, identifying the least and most corrupt areas and to investigate factors hindering the use of e-government to fight corruption and proffer strategies to curb corruption through e-government. The population was all forty five countries that adopted e-government in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). The Cumulative Corruption Index (CPI) extracted from Transparency International over the period from 2012 to 2017 was calculated and the average score used to measure the level of corruption in the various regions of the zone. This study revealed the least corrupt states as Botswana, Seychelles, Mauritius and Rwanda and the most corrupt states as Somalia, Togo, and Sierra Leone from all the regions of SSA. There was a significant positive correlation of the level of Internet penetration with the level of corruption in the zone. Factors hindering the effective use of e-government to fight corruption such as high cost of procuring and maintaining modern technology amongst others were delineated. Recommendations such as support of the use of social media to campaign against corruption and many others were proffered.