The World Bank says Nigeria is a  startling example of reduced corruption in Africa. The World Bank said in a statement made available in Abuja that the biggest  gain by far was registered by Nigeria, whose score had risen by 93 per cent,  albeit from a very low base.

Nigeria moved up 11 places in the world league table to 121 from 132. The bank said that Nigeria‘s performance  was against the judgement of all the "reform-minded” agencies, including  the OECD, which argued that ``low corruption is good for growth and investment,  but the regional figures suggest otherwise’’.

“All of which is bad news for  reform-minded agencies like the OECD, IMF and World Bank,’’ it said.
It particularly commended China‘s significant aid and investment in African  countries including Nigeria.

The World Bank said that China had  concentrated its aid in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea  and Sudan where corruption had been high.  “This means that it is no longer  possible to argue that corruption deters foreign direct investment,” it said.

It said that of the 47 Sub-Saharan  countries ranked in the 2008 survey, 64 per cent score less than three out of  10, a level that, according to Transparency International, indicates rampant  corruption.
Just three states, Botswana, Cape Verde  and Mauritius score above the indexes mid-point, it said.

In one country, Malawi, they are unchanged, while in eight countries in the  bottom half of the table, the situation has deteriorated. Only one other African country,  Madagascar, has improved its standing and then only by three places.

The main losers in terms of rankings are Sudan (down 67 places), The Gambia (66  places) and Zimbabwe (60), followed by Congo ( Brazzaville ) and Sierra Leone ,  both down 45 places, Ethiopia (down 34), Côte d Ivoire (33) and Malawi (32).

Southern African states such as Botswana  , Mauritius , South Africa and Namibia top the table.

While resource-rich nations, especially oil exporters ( Sudan , Chad,  Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo , Angola , Congo and Nigeria)  cluster around the bottom.“What this means is that, in recent years  especially, economic growth has not been correlated with low levels of corruption,”  the report said.