Saturday, April 17, 2021
Corporate Compliance Insights
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • Writing for CCI
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Topics
    • See All Articles
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Leadership and Career
  • Vendor News
  • Jobs
    • Compliance & Risk
    • Information Security
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Submit an Event
  • Downloads
    • eBooks
    • Whitepapers
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • Writing for CCI
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Topics
    • See All Articles
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Leadership and Career
  • Vendor News
  • Jobs
    • Compliance & Risk
    • Information Security
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Submit an Event
  • Downloads
    • eBooks
    • Whitepapers
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Corporate Compliance Insights
Home Compliance

The Costs of Corruption in the Public Sector

by Nellie Mayshak
July 30, 2018
in Compliance, Featured
businessman holding stack of bills

When the Public Loses Faith

Corruption in government is nothing new. And it’s not limited to nations and governments that are developing or are on already shaky ground due to civil discord or poverty.

The issue is how we, as a world community, combat it. Because not only does corruption exact a significant financial toll, but its influence may obscure real progress that’s otherwise being made in improving systems, policies and procedures that are essential in order to build effective governments.

There is tremendous concern among world economic leaders over public sector corruption, and rightfully so: A 2016 research paper by the International Monetary Fund said it drains $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion from the global economy.

Those costs are compounded by a heavier price paid in terms of restricted economic growth, lost tax revenues and worsening poverty. But even more debilitating yet are the indirect costs that are hard to quantify but no less serious. How does a nation or a society recover when corruption has undermined trust and when the ethical standards private citizens hold are continuously being compromised?

It was an issue I was forced to grapple with myself over the course of a three-year project in Nigeria, when I was brought in by government officials to lead a much-needed and long-delayed overhaul of the government pension system. My experience leading public sector reform projects in Africa (including Nigeria) and other countries, combined with a reputation for integrity in my dealings, gave me credibility as a qualified outsider.

It was a significant challenge, largely as a result of the corruption that has long characterized the country.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, but one that has seen an increase in the number of people living in poverty – about  86 million by some accounts . It’s also considered one of the most corrupt nations in the world. The 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index of Transparency International puts Nigeria in the 148th spot of the 180 countries surveyed.

I was charged with restructuring a system that had been riddled with misappropriation and allegations of fraud for years. The task was to consolidate the system; separate government ministries managed their own small pension systems, but no one knew how much money was in each. There were a large number of “ghost” pensioners, whose money was pocketed by ministry officials.

The civil service pension that was brought into the new system, for example, had 103,000 pensioners on its payroll and over 60,000 complaints. A painstaking verification process eliminated the “ghosts,” but also restored the hope of genuine pensioners who had been excluded from receiving their benefits for years.

But all the good work our team accomplished – real pensioners helped and lots of money saved and safe in the government treasury – couldn’t overcome negative campaigning against our work by those corrupt agency heads who were losing control over their cash cows.

And the people?

They had been living with systemic corruption for so long that they trusted no one and were willing to believe the worst of everyone. Those are the sort of fractures of faith that will keep a country from succeeding with a progressive agenda.

Nigeria, sadly enough, is not the only nation whose progress is hampered by corruption. Combatting it can take many forms. Strengthening public financial management systems is one recommendation. The use of information technology for transactions helps. In the case of the Nigerian pension system, it helped to cut out intermediaries, enabled direct payment to pensioners’ accounts from the Central Bank and, most importantly, kept records confirmed that my effort and the clean-up work was above dispute. And, of course, stronger public policymaking is another – and one that’s at the heart of many development projects funded by organizations like the World Bank.

But there are no easy ways to restore people’s faith and trust in their leaders and institutions.


Tags: anti-corruptiontransparency international
Previous Post

Global Workplace Survey: Ethics & Compliance Programs, At Any Level, Create Significant ROI and Improved Culture

Next Post

Financial Forecast: Cloudy with a Good Chance of Behavioral Insight

Nellie Mayshak

Nellie Mayshak has been a global leader in public administration reform for over 30 years. She believes that building the basis for strong democratic governance starts with an efficient, responsive, transparent and accountable public administration, and she has spent her career assisting nations in advancing on this front, often as part of their recovery from conflict or transition. Nellie is also the founder of Canaf Consulting, where she applies her expertise in public administration and civil service reform to the organization’s clients in order to help create systems of efficient and accountable public administration.

Related Posts

Business professionals stand in silhouette in a conference room.

How Far Will You Go?

April 16, 2021
allustration of a man looking at a moon through a telescope

Periodic Reporting for Public Companies in 2021: What Lies Ahead

April 14, 2021
A view of the Veriff mobile app

Estonian Identity Verification Service Veriff Raises $69M in Series B Led by IVP and Accel

April 13, 2021
President Joe Biden.

The Biden Administration Is Ramping Up Numerous Cross-Border Enforcements. Compliance Teams Should Take Note.

April 13, 2021
Next Post
cloud icon on green background

Financial Forecast: Cloudy with a Good Chance of Behavioral Insight

2Behavox and CCI webinar: Power of Ai in F
OneTrust offers download to demonstrate privacy management leadership
Top 10 Risk and Compliance Trends

Jump to a Topic:

anti-corruption anti-money laundering/AML Artificial Intelligence/A.I. automation banks board of directors board risk oversight bribery CCPA/California Consumer Privacy Act Cloud Compliance communications management Coronavirus/COVID-19 corporate culture crisis management culture of ethics cyber crime cyber risk data analytics data breach data governance decision-making diversity DOJ due diligence ESG fcpa enforcement actions financial crime GDPR GRC HIPAA information security KYC machine learning monitoring regtech reputation risk risk assessment Sanctions SEC social media risk technology third party risk management tone at the top training whistleblowing
No Result
View All Result

Privacy Policy

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS Feed

Category

  • CCI Press
  • Compliance
  • Compliance Podcasts
  • Cybersecurity
  • Data Privacy
  • eBooks
  • Ethics
  • FCPA
  • Featured
  • Financial Services
  • Fraud
  • Governance
  • GRC Vendor News
  • HR Compliance
  • Internal Audit
  • Leadership and Career
  • On Demand Webinars
  • Opinion
  • Resource Library
  • Risk
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Whitepapers

© 2021 Corporate Compliance Insights

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • Writing for CCI
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Topics
    • See All Articles
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Leadership and Career
  • Vendor News
  • Jobs
    • Compliance & Risk
    • Information Security
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Submit an Event
  • Downloads
    • eBooks
    • Whitepapers
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Subscribe

© 2021 Corporate Compliance Insights