According to Transparency International research, Nigeria is rated 140th out of 180 nations in the globe on the 2024 corruption perceptions index.
Due to European dominance, no African nation entered the top ten list of least corrupt countries.
The continent’s most populated country rose five ranks from the 2023 rating and ten spots from the 2022 ranking in TI’s most recent ranking, which was made public on Tuesday.
With 90 points, Denmark was found to be the least corrupt nation; Finland, another Nordic nation, came in second with 88 points, and Singapore, third with 84 points.
Nonetheless, South Sudan, Somalia, and Venezuela were included among the world’s most corrupt nations.
Due to the dominance of European nations, it was noted that no African nation placed in the top 10.
According to the study, with a combined score of 26 points, Nigeria was tied with Mexico, Cameroon, Madagascar, Iraq, and Uganda.
Despite being ranked number 35 with 62 points, Cape Verde topped the list of least corrupt nations in Africa.
According to the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), corruption is a serious issue everywhere in the world, but many nations are seeing positive progress, said Francois Valeria, head of Transparency International.
“Research also reveals that corruption is a major threat to climate action. It hinders progress in reducing emissions and adapting to the unavoidable effects of global heating.
“The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories worldwide by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. The results are given on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).”
To Valeria, while 32 countries have significantly reduced their corruption levels since 2012, there’s still a huge amount of work to be done—148 countries have stayed stagnant or gotten worse during the same period.
“The global average of 43 has also stood still for years, while over two-thirds of countries score below 50. Billions of people live in countries where corruption destroys lives and undermines human rights,” he said.