By Mercy Darko
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has challenged anti-graft agencies in Africa to adopt and leverage digitization in the fight against corruption.
Addressing the 14th Commonwealth Africa Anti-Corruption Conference in Accra, Dr Bawumia said Africa stands at risk of allowing herself to be defeated by corruption and graft activities if effective strategies such as digitization are not adopted to disrupt any corrupt activities and networks on the continent.
He indicated that Ghana’s adoption of digitization into some state agencies have saved the country millions of cedis.
It is reported that the global cost of corruption exceeds 3.5 trillion dollars dollars each year. Africa loses more than 50 billion dollars a year to illicit financial flows. Anti Corruption agencies estimate that Africa’s loss to corruption in the 50 years exceeds the total of all the official development assistance received during the same period. Players say what Africa loses to corruption is more than enough to lift everybody out of poverty and deliver the SDGs.
It is in this light that the Association of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa, Senior government officials, relevant international organizations, civil society, policymakers and development partners have gathered in Accra for the 14th Annual Conference of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa with special focus on “Strengthening Institutions and Promoting Transparency: A Means of Fighting Corruption in Commonwealth Africa”.
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia joined the gathering to share his thoughts on approaches needed to tackle one of the serious threats to Africa’s growth, youth and development. Dr. Bawumia said through the adoption of technology, the continent can deal with the corruption network that is threatening the economic growth stressing that digitization has contributed immensely to tackle corruption in the public sector and saving the country a lot of revenue.
Dr Bawumia outlined new measures such as blockchain technology to deal with corruption.
The 14th Annual Conference of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa was attended by members of the Association of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Commonwealth Africa, senior government officials, relevant international organizations, civil society, policymakers and development partners.
