West to East: Kenya, Nigeria unlikely partners in fight against corruption

Taking a trip down memory lane, President Buhari recalled that Kenya’s founding father President Jomo Kenyatta was among the most inspiring first generation of African freedom fighters who included Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Abdul Nasser of Egypt, Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigeria and Kwame Nkuruma of Ghana – leaders who paved the way for the independent Africa of today.

“That generation of heroes brought our continent back to us. Now it is our task to make them proud by elevating Africa to a level beyond their dreams,” President Buhari said, adding that his visit to Kenya was the first state visit since he assumed the leadership of Nigeria.

As one of the promising emerging economies in Africa, President Kenyatta said Kenya is keen to expand and upgrade infrastructure to deliver the required efficiency – in terms of time and cost – to facilitate trade and investment and attract private sector investments in critical sectors of the economy.

“In this regard the Government has taken steps to improve trade and investment climate by implementing key policy initiatives which include:The enactment of the Public Private Partnership Act 2013; The roll-out of e-Procurement; The enactment of investor protection; Ease of doing Business initiatives; The establishment of One–Stop-Shop and the Reduction in the cost of power among others,” he said.

“Kenya thus avails enormous opportunities for investment in ICT, manufacturing, agriculture, mining, finance, transport, infrastructure and energy that would serve the above cited regions,” President Kenyatta said.

He also promoted the Lamu Port Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor project as an open area for investment.

Following the discovery of oil in the country and the Nigerian experience in the sector, President Kenyatta invited Nigerian investors to invest in Kenya by going into joint ventures with Kenyan companies or through Public Private Partnerships.

President Buhari called for the removal of business restrictions to allow for a smooth flow of trade between the two countries.

“Our business people should be allowed to operate within the ambit of law unimpeded,” President Buhari said.

He commended President Kenyatta and former President Goodluck Jonathan saying they “brought the West to the East” in terms of trade relations.

CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX 2015

Based on expert opinion, the Corruption Perceptions Index measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption worldwide.

Dark red indicates a highly corrupt public sector. Lighter red and orange countries fare a bit better, but corruption among public institutions and employees is still common. Yellow countries are perceived as cleaner, but not perfect.

The scale of the issue is huge. Sixty-eight per cent of countries worldwide have a serious corruption problem. Half of the G20 are among them.

Not one single country, anywhere in the world, is corruption-free.

All are corrupt

No country is free of public corruption, a scourge that has wide-ranging effects on the lives of billions of people. But in 2015, more countries saw drops in corruption than those that saw gains, according to the new Corruption Perceptions Index.

A map shows countries with the most corrupt public sectors in dark red, followed by orange and yellow — which “are perceived as cleaner, but not perfect,” according to the group.