This Anti-Corruption Helpdesk brief was produced in response to a query from a U4 Partner Agency. The U4 Helpdesk is operated by Transparency International in collaboration with the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre based at the Chr. Michelsen Institute.
Query
Please provide an overview of corruption and anti-corruption in Senegal, with a particular focus on public financial management.
Summary
Senegal fares well in corruption related indices compared to its West African peers. However, challenges persist as grand corruption, clientelism, nepotism and administrative corruption were evident during the administrations of Abdoulaye Wade and Macky Sall, posing challenges in particular to public financial management and public procurement, despite recent institutional reforms. Newly elected president Bassirou Diomaye Faye has committed to breaking with past practices and governing with transparency
Main Points
- Senegal fares comparatively strongly in West Africa with regards to estimated levels of corruption, albeit facing setbacks over the past ten years.
- However, evidence indicates grand corruption, clientelism, nepotism and administrative corruption all affect Senegal.
- Sectors vulnerable to corruption include public services and lower level government administration being vulnerable to bribery, while there is a suggestion that the judiciary facilitates politically motivated persecutions, including on corruption grounds.
- There are risks that public procurement processes are captured for the benefit of politically connected companies and individuals.
- Senegal’s public financial management cycle is undermined by insufficient budget transparency and gaps in legislation.
- Anti-corruption forms an important part of the political discourse with the newly elected president Bassirou Diomaye Faye committing to governing with transparency.
Authors
Miloš Resimić
Reviewed by
Jamie Bergin (TI)
Marianne Toraasen (CMI)
Date
16/04/2024
Tags
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