Corruption, investment climate and economic development in Nigeria

Abstract

The paper examines some causes of corruption and evaluates the impact of corrupt practices on investment promotion in Nigeria. It does theses against the background of domestic and global trends in anti-corruption initiatives, with a view to fashioning a social-legal system that efficaciously seeks to ensure that corruption does not stifle investment. The paper confirms that corruption is a disincentive to investment, and that its widespread as well as dynamic nature make its elimination most seemingly intractable . It submits that there are enough anti-corruption statues in Nigeria, but enforcement is slack and corrupt. It concludes that streamlined and automated bureaucracy, ethical reorientation, and committed law enforcement are effective weapons to fight corruption and to sanitize the Nigerian investment climate for economic development.