Madam, - John O'Shea (Opinion, December 9th) rightly draws attention to corruption in Africa and the outstanding work that GOAL and other organisations undertake there. An important issue is where corruption comes from. There are two types: vertical (aid or bribes to political élites) and horizontal (day-to-day corruption among civil servants, police, nurses, etc.).
Successful economies such as Ireland and South Korea have had substantial vertical corruption, but very little horizontal corruption, which is more corrosive. Horizontal corruption is caused by poverty and poor salaries.
An ethic of corruption makes people less demanding of standards in politics. The African saying that "a goat eats where it is tethered" reflects this. So poverty causes corruption and corruption causes poverty. There is a need to break this vicious cycle by attacking both poverty and corruption.
While the average Japanese cow receives $8 a day in government subsidies, half of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa live on less that $1 a day. The EU has dumped below-cost beef in southern Africa, undermining markets. Meanwhile, European taxpayers have paid for aid projects to support the beef industry there. At issue is how to reform the international trade, aid and debt regimes to facilitate poverty reduction and promote accountable governance at both national and global levels.
One of the countries in the world with the fastest growing economies in the past 30 years, Botswana in Southern Africa, has had a strong, efficient and accountable state. Its new anti-corruption unit has further dramatically reduced the problem there. Ultimately Africans, through their governments and with international assistance, must set their own course. The best way to help is by creating positive conditions, through debt relief for example, and supporting state reform so that leaders are accountable to their own people rather than outwards to the aid system. - Yours, etc.,
PÁDRAIG CARMODY, Department of Geography, St Patrick's College, Dublin 9.