Corruption in Ethiopia

There are several sectors contributing to Corruption in Ethiopia, where businesses are particularly vulnerable. Land distribution and administration is a sector where corruption is institutionalized, and facilitation payments as well as bribes are often demanded from businesses when they deal with land-related issues.

Corruption also occurs when businesses obtain permits and licenses due to complicated bureaucracy. Public procurement is also seriously hampered by corruption, and different types of irregularities exist, such as non-transparent tender processes and awarding contracts to people with close connection to the government and ruling party.

Corruption has also been linked to human rights violations which have been reported to cause widespread unrest in Ethiopia since 2015. A change in the country’s leadership in 2018 saw some arrests and was hoped to bring a change of status quo, However, The Reporter opines that sustained anti-corruption efforts have not translated to judicial arrests and closure of cases till very end.

On Transparency International's 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index, Ethiopia scored 37 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Ethiopia ranked 99th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector. For comparison with regional scores, the average score among sub-Saharan African countries was 33. The best score in sub-Saharan Africa was 72 and the worst score was 8. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the average score was 43, and the worst score was 8 (ranked 180).

The Ethiopian Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (FEACC) is an anti-corruption institution that was established in 2001. It is accountable for the Prime Minister and has a power to register assets of government officials.

Corruption cases

Ethiopia has witnessed significant corruption cases, accompanied by human rights violations and unrest. Corruption are in all forms; clientelism, kleptocracy, rent seeking and state capture. Even though the FEACC established to combat corruption cases, its implementation is highly inadequate, as the malpractice is abiding in judiciary and legislature.

Facilitation payments and bribes in the government is rampant where land is leased to the state in order to obtain government contract. The Ethiopian Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission contains The Revised Federal Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission Establishment Proclamation and the Revised Anti-Corruption Law that decriminalized all forms of corruption including active and passive bribery, bribing foreign officials and money laundering. The intervention of facilitation payment to civil servants as means of gift offer is illegal that deemed capitulate their decisions.

In judiciary

Corruption in Ethiopia's judicial body greatly affects companies and business enterprises through overturning judge decisions using favoritism. Although the judiciary of Ethiopia shall be independent, judges are primary targets by high ranking officials to favor them.

Some companies indicated that they are frustrated by the court system preventing them to undergo their businesses. On average, enforcing contract takes place in 530 days, which is faster than regional average.

In law enforcement

Corruption is highly prevalent in police force, becoming main issues. According to a 2016 survey, half of respondents believe the police is corrupt with over half of companies said they paid for their own security. Bribery among police officers are widespread.

In January 2015, the Dire Dawa High Court convicted four police officers for misappropriating sisa drug in 240 carton box while taking on their duty. According to Afrobarometer (2024), about one third (32%) respondent said that the police force is corrupt. The majority (57%) said they trust police in certain manner.

In public service

Corruption within government public provision threatens companies, with petty corruption, extortion, fraud, embezzlement, nepotism, cronyism and bribery are common in public service. Businesses are involved in such case of corruption in order to undertake quickly. Participating as member of civil service often required affiliation to the ruling party.

Foreign companies blamed the Ethiopian Electric Power is the most corrupt electricity provider. Starting business and obtaining construction permit in Ethiopia usually takes twofold duration and longer duration.

In land administration

Corruption is the most prevalent in land administration in Ethiopia, where property rights poorly protected by the government. The corruption includes bribery and land grabbing, causing lack of transparency, resources and poor policy in strong institution. With absence of private ownership, the government owned and leased the land up to 99 years as means of eminent domain.

In 2016, the government revoked the ownership of 3,000 investors of 510 hectares parcel, for not developing the land due to not starting production in agreed time

In tax administration

Corruption in tax administration includes bribery and irregular and facilitation payments. Tax regulation is the major obstacle for business, impending investment and economic growth in Ethiopia. About 78% of respondents said corruption is extremely prevalent in tax revenue.

The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority is perceived to be the most corrupt institution. In 2018, the World Bank ranked Ethiopia 178th from 200 surveyed countries in report based on the 2017 TRACE Bribery Risk Matrix.

In custom administration

Corruption in custom administration involves bribery where the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority frequently cited as the most corrupt institution. These corruption committed in border, during import process and tariffs. Corruption lags the custom procedures which impacts its efficiency in terms of time. Additionally, state owned business firms often take advantage to private sectors of using high level government officials in order to quickly access customs clearances, distorting domestic and foreign investor enterprises.

In response to such malpractice, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed established national anti-corruption committee in November 2022 to tackle and identify corruption problem in custom authority.

In legislation

Corruption in Ethiopia's legislature includes clientelism, kleptocracy, rent-seeking, and state capture. The Revised Federal Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission Establishment Proclamation and the Revised Anti-Corruption Law criminalized any form of corruption, though there is no known prosecution of such cases in private sectors.

The Assets and Property Registration Law is the sole responsible for collecting assets of government officials and power to deny the registry. The Article 444 of Criminal Code protects the rights of whistleblowers, but not the private whistleblowers in reality.

In civil society

The civil society are facing frequent censorship by the government. Although freedom of expression and press are guaranteed in the Constitution, there are instances of the Criminal Code limiting the rights in favor of controlling obscene communication and defamation of public officials. Journalists often face persecution.

For instance, during the 2016 nationwide protests, a state of emergency was declared that led harassment, detention and prosecution of journalists by the government forces. Ethiopia became the worst jailer in Africa, with conviction of terrorism related according to Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) report in 2024.

See also

• Ethiopian Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission

External links

• Ethiopia Corruption Profile from the Business Anti-Corruption Portal
• The Problem of Corruption in Ethiopia