Graft a cancer on economic growth - COMESA Chief
COMESA Secretary-General, Chileshe Kapwepwe says corruption can cause a huge dent in economic growth of any country if not dealt with early enough.
Ms Kapwepwe explained that combating corruption was a pre-requisite to enhancing regional integration.
She was speaking during the COMESA Business Council (CBC) anti-corruption compliance training for enterprises in Lusaka yesterday.
Ms Kapwepwe said corruption could affect the cost of goods and deter local as well as foreign direct investment.
“To promote regional integration, we must deal with political and economic effects of corruption, individually as sovereign states and collectively as a region at COMESA level and the rest of the African continent,” she said.
She said the World Economic Forum estimated that corruption increased the cost of doing business by up to 10 per cent and on average.
COMESA’s trade lies at US $250 billion in 2017 with infra-regional trade at 6.7 percent.
And Zambia Association of Manufactures president, Roseta Chabala, emphasised that corruption threatened the sustainability of any economy and business.
Meanwhile, CBC chief executive officer, Sandra Uwera said Africa was losing US$148 billion from corruption activities every year thereby affecting investor comfort.
Ms Uwera said this was because efforts to fight corruption lacked in a number of countries with national anti-corruption acts.
She warned that insufficient and corrupt systems had also affected foreign investors’ property rights and investor comfort.
“Companies need honest environment. So we must make sure that Governments enforce international anti-bribery laws and conventions. This protects companies from corruption across borders and down supply chains,” she said.
When corrupt practices make headlines, Ms Uwera said, the country went under a watchdog radar which affected its trading partnerships and investor relations.