Corruption in Eritrea

Political corruption
Forms and concepts
Bribery Cronyism Economics of corruption Electoral fraud Elite capture Influence peddling Kleptocracy Mafia state Nepotism Pyrrhic defeat theory Slush fund Simony State capture State-corporate crime Throffer
Anti-corruption
International Anti-Corruption Court Group of States Against Corruption International Anti-Corruption Academy International Anti-Corruption Day United Nations Convention against Corruption
Corruption by country
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Corruption in Eritrea is considered a deeply serious and growing problem. The level of corruption used to be considerably lower in Eritrea than in many other African countries. Indeed, it was traditionally viewed as having a “strong ‘anti-corruption’ culture” and considered relatively “egalitarian and corruption-free.”^[1] In 2006, a report by Bertelsmann Stiftung stated that corruption, as of that date, was not a serious problem within Eritrea. While noting that there had been “cases of corruption since independence,” they existed on a negligible level, although politically-motivated corruption allegations have been made.^[2] But, in fact, corruption is said to have been growing steadily worse ever since 1998, when, not long after the end of its decades-long war of independence, a border conflict with Ethiopia led to another war.^[3]

Another source stated in 2015 that over the previous decade, corruption had become ingrained in Eritrean everyday life, with bribes required for most government services. Other alleged types of corruption include the payments of ransoms for hostages “under the eyes of the government.”^[4]

On Transparency International's 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index, Eritrea scored 21 on a scale from 0 ("highly corrupt") to 100 ("very clean"). When ranked by score, Eritrea ranked 161st among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector.^[5] Eritrea's score in recent years has declined from a high of 25 in 2012 to as low as 18 in 2014-2017. For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11 (ranked 180).^[6] For comparison with regional scores, the average score among sub-Saharan African countries ^{[Note 1]} was 33. The highest score in sub-Saharan Africa was 71 and the lowest score was 11.^[7]

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