“Cooperation between actors is the most effective solution to act against corruption,” Hollande said at the opening of the International Conference on Good Governance and the Fight against Corruption in Africa.
“For there to be corrupt, there must be corruptors, one does not go without the other,” hence the importance of acting together to curb this phenomenon, he noted, stressing that no continent escapes corruption, pressures and temptations.
“On the other hand, there are countries that have taken, earlier than others, awareness of the need to prevent these phenomena, deter and punish them,” said the former French head of state, noting, in this sense, that Morocco has “very early had this clarity” with the creation of the National Authority of probity, prevention and fight against corruption (INPPLC).
Corruption is a scourge that weighs on the development of Africa, because it makes it lose each year a sum of over 150 billion dollars, or 6% of its GDP, said Hollande, calling this scourge “poison” that contributes to weakening institutions.
For his part, president of the Republic of Senegal, current chairman of the African Union, Macky Sall, reaffirmed in a message read on this occasion by his senior representative, Mustapha Niasse, his “full commitment” in this fight “which must be that of every man and woman”.
“Faced with this global phenomenon, which no country can claim to escape completely, governments, civil society and youth organizations have a crucial role to play in the organized mobilization of energies and initiatives to meet the challenges,” said Sall.
He welcomed the holding in Rabat of this conference which reflects the Kingdom’s “remarkable adherence” to “the ideals of international solidarity, peace, harmony, understanding and cooperation”.
For his part, the president of the INPPLC, Mohamed Bachir Rachdi, said that “all regional and international reports dealing with the issue of development put corruption, in its most diverse forms, among the first factors that stand in the way of development and weaken the chances of countries to seize all opportunities to ensure socio-economic development in line with their true potentialities.
With an average score of 33/100 in the corruption perception index of “Transparency International”, Africa suffers, more than any other region in the world, the full force of the adverse consequences of this scourge, said Rachdi.
The opening of this international conference was also marked by a presentation by the President of the International University of Rabat (UIR), Noureddine Mouaddib, highlighting the role of the academic world in promoting good governance and the fight against corruption.
This conference is organized under the High Patronage of HM King Mohammed VI by the Association #StopCorruption and the INPPLC, in partnership with the UIR.
