ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a critique of the dominant paradigms often used to explain the roots of poverty in contemporary Africa. It argues with compelling evidence that corruption pervading the basic fabric of African societies constitutes the common and fundamental denominator in the impoverishment of Africans. It then provides a framework for examining how corruption constitutes the prime factor in the widespread poverty affecting African states over time. Corruption in Africa is a pervasive phenomenon, hindering economic growth and creating widespread poverty among the people. Since contemporary African societies are also complex and diverse, it is equally plausible to suggest that corruption also involves things taken for granted, such as ethnicity, sectionalism, racism, opportunism, bootlicking, hypocrisy, factionalism, regionalism, nepotism, extortion, exclusion, and exploitation of the weak and minorities; these may be counted as corruptive practices. Corruption is undermining our capacity to promote and defend one's sovereignty and dignity.
