ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the definition of corruption and types of corruption (Petty, Grand, Systemic). It also looks at the different categories of corruption such as Bureaucratic, Legislative, Political and Private-Sector Corruption. This is to give a clear understanding of how corruption operates. The chapter also introduces the reader to the common forms of corruption such as bribery, fraud, embezzlement, extortion, kickbacks and cronyism to mention a few. Each of these forms of corruption is given a brief explanation to afford for easy reference by the reader of the book. The chapter also looks at the major causes of corruption in Africa. Some of these include poor governance, excessive greed, kickbacks as well as the weakness of African institutions amongst others. The consequence of corruption and the impact it has on African economies have also been looked at in this chapter from a political, economic and social angle. But most important of all is the national security consequence of corruption in numerous African countries leading to instability and insurgence in some of these countries. Examples include Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Sudan and Central African Republic.
