Anti-corruption actors at the launch of the 2024 CPI in Lusaka
On Tuesday 11 February 2025, Transparency International unveiled the global results for the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The CPI is the world’s leading measure of public sector corruption and uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 means highly corrupt, and 100 means very clean. For the second time in a decade, Zambia recorded an increase in its CPI score, increasing from 37/100 in 2023 to 39/100 in 2024, following a 4-point improvement in 2023 as compared to 2022. This signifies a moderate improvement in Zambia’s public sector corruption situation, even though the improvement is on a declining trend.
The CPI measures perceptions of experts and business people on the state of corruption within the public sector. It therefore does not measure perceptions of the general-public or the common person, as in other experiential surveys such as the Zambia Bribe Payers Index Survey. Further, the CPI does not include illicit financial flows (IFFs) as corruption is only one of the many sources of IFFs. Therefore, it is erroneous to compare the CPI results to the reports by the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), as IFFs are not included in the CPI. It is also important to note that the CPI score is an independent measure of public sector corruption. Transparency International, as well as Transparency International Zambia, simply compile the results after the different assessments are conducted by reputable international organizations such as the World Bank. TI-Z cannot therefore influence the results, as it is not part of the underlying 13 different assessments.
The improvement to 39/100 does not mean that there is no more corruption in Zambia. In fact, Zambia still trails behind African countries such as Tanzania and South Africa, both with a score of 41, Namibia at a score of 49 and Rwanda and Botswana scoring 57. Zambia also remains below the global average of 43/100. When looking at the ranking, Zambia’s 92nd position means that 91 countries were better than Zambia in fighting corruption. This indicates that there is still much work to be done in order to raise Zambia’s CPI score above the global average and to improve its ranking.
The CPI is a weighted average of external data sources, stemming from highly reputable institutions such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the World Economic Forum. This means that various types of public sector corruption and corruption interventions in various sectors influence the CPI. A country can make progress in improving transparency in public financial management but if it takes no action to enhance prosecution of corruption cases, the changes in the CPI may be insignificant.
This is because the CPI will move in the direction of the more significant actions, whether positive or negative. It is therefore erroneous to point at one specific factor, such as misappropriation of funds in audit reports, as evidence of high corruption, while ignoring other interventions taken to combat the vice.
Moreover, there is need for caution when assuming that corruption scandals will lead to a decrease in the CPI score, as this may not always be the case. In fact, the publication of corruption scandals, through the media, can allude to other anti-corruption mechanisms working well, such as whistleblowing mechanisms or access to information or indeed free and unbiased media. Therefore, it is erroneous to expect the CPI to decrease because of some selected corruption scandals within the period. Further, since the CPI measures many different factors that move in opposite direction, the CPI score is not directly responsive to corruption scandals, as other factors may have a greater impact on the overall score.
The CPI is a weighted average of external data sources, stemming from highly reputable institutions such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the World Economic Forum. This means that various types of public sector corruption and corruption interventions in various sectors influence the CPI. A country can make progress in improving transparency in public financial management but if it takes no action to enhance prosecution of corruption cases, the changes in the CPI may be insignificant.
This is because the CPI will move in the direction of the more significant actions, whether positive or negative. It is therefore erroneous to point at one specific factor, such as misappropriation of funds in audit reports, as evidence of high corruption, while ignoring other interventions taken to combat the vice.
Moreover, there is need for caution when assuming that corruption scandals will lead to a decrease in the CPI score, as this may not always be the case. In fact, the publication of corruption scandals, through the media, can allude to other anti-corruption mechanisms working well, such as whistleblowing mechanisms or access to information or indeed free and unbiased media. Therefore, it is erroneous to expect the CPI to decrease because of some selected corruption scandals within the period. Further, since the CPI measures many different factors that move in opposite direction, the CPI score is not directly responsive to corruption scandals, as other factors may have a greater impact on the overall score.
Breakdown of the change in score in the individual external data sources used to measure Zambia’s CPI
In following the above caution, it is important to understand the factors behind the 2-point improvement in 2024 and what this means for Zambia. The improvement stems from a significant increase in only one of the nine data sources for the CPI. The World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey (WEF-EOS), moved upwards by 23 points, that is, from 30 in 2022, when it was last observed, to 53 in 2024. Since this data source measures the prevalence of bribery in business operations, the 23-point improvement in the survey suggests a significant reduction of bribery in business operations. TI-Z attributed the 2024 CPI improvement to reforms that the Government has undertaken in recent years, including electronic government service reforms, such as the digitalization of the mining license application process, enhanced beneficial ownership requirements in procurement, and the increase in the number of public institutions promulgating service charters.
Ministry of Justice Permanent Secretary for Administration, Ambassador Isabelle Lemba
Over the next 12 months, Zambia will need to take some concrete actions to reignite the anti-corruption fight if the nation expects to make further gains in its CPI score. Some of the steps required are the following:
- Government must place integrity at the centre of climate efforts, as this is key to achieving real impact in effectively combatting the climate crisis.
- Government should also finalize the guidelines and rules for the full operationalization of the Access to Information Act in order to ensure transparency, accountability and effective media scrutiny.
- Government must address the growing perception of corruption in Courts, unfair dispensing of justice and the abuse of public funds through out of court settlements managed through the State Chambers.
- Further, law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and oversight institutions must enhance investigations, sanctions and protections to combat corruption in order to deter environmental crimes and reduce impunity.
- LEAs must also take stronger action following the publication of Auditor General’s Reports in order to halt the continued trend of abuse of public funds, including in the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) programme.
- Civil society organisations can also contribute by accelerating efforts aimed at combating public sector corruption in order to secure future improvements in the CPI score for Zambia.
- In the same vein, international organizations should promote transparency in climate policy making and decision making by making information on climate finance projects and contracts open, accessible and disseminated in a timely manner.
Finally, citizens should continue to play a critical in the fight against corruption through acting as monitors of public service delivery and government operations as well as reporting corruption to law enforcement agencies and making use of channels such as the Anti Corruption Commission Toll Free line (5980) and the newly launched anonymous online whistle-blowers platform
Panel discussion at the 2024 CPI launch
In conclusion, Zambia’s 2024 CPI score points to a moderate improvement in Zambia’s public sector corruption situation, even though the improvement is on a declining trend. TI-Z attributed the 2024 CPI improvement to reforms that the Government has undertaken in recent years, including electronic government service reforms, such as the digitalization of the mining license application process, enhanced beneficial ownership requirements in procurement, and the increase in the number of public institutions promulgating service charters. It is also notable that Zambia needs to take urgent action to improve the government landscape and combat corruption if the country expects to increase the CPI score in future.
For more information on global, regional and Zambia trends, visit our CPI portal: Click here…
