A paper entitled “Corruption and Firm Export Performance in Fragile Economies: Evidence for Zimbabwe” states that exporting constraints in Zimbabwe promotes corruption.
The paper by Professor Albert Makochekanwa and Doctor Godfrey Mahofa was presented at a workshop by Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analysis and Research Unit (ZEPARU) and African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) in Harare this year.
“Exporters in Zimbabwe face serious challenges some of which include transfer of money from the importing company in the region, non-tariff barriers such as sanitary and phyto-sanitary issues standard, exports insurance, currency management issues and the tariffs themselves. Some of these constraints promote corruption,” ZEPARU gives notes.
Transparency International’s 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index rated Zimbabwe 160 least corrupt nation out of 175 countries.
In offering key issues on the paper, ZEPARU points out the negative effects of corruption.
“Corruption manifests in different forms including informal payments made to government officials to ease the day-to-day operations of businesses, embezzlement of public funds, externalisation of funds, fraud, smuggling of goods, abuse of office, tax evasion, extortion and nepotism,” says ZEPARU.
“Some of its negative effects include low economic growth, investment and increased inequality.”
Corruption has been blamed for Zimbabwe economic downfall.
The paper by scholars recommends Zimbabwe to intensify the ease of doing business reforms to create a more conducive export business environment.
“There is need for Government to take practical steps to stamp corruption through putting in place strong institutions and automation of government processes to reduce human conduct.” ZEPARU notes.
The government of Zimbabwe, however, is a signatory to regional protocols aimed at stemming corruption but these are facing transposition (at the ratification levels) or implementation challenges.
