When I hear the word corruption, I think of officials high up in a government stealing from the citizens and preventing the country from developing.  However, according to Professor Nicolas van de Walle, there are different levels of corruption that exist in African countries.

There are two types of corruption that Prof. van de Walle discussed: high level corruption and low level corruption, and these do not always go hand in hand. There are some countries with high level corruption but not low level corruption and vice versa.  van de Walle defined high level corruption as the “bad” type of corruption, which is politically driven and impacts operation of the government, such as an official taking half of the health budget.  Low level corruption, on the other hand, is not devastating like high level corruption. This is day to day corruption, like an official charging someone five dollars to get cell service. In most places where this happens, the officials have low wages and there is little or no taxation. People are able to accept low level corruption and pay the officials the minimal fee.

I found it interesting to hear about the different levels of corruption and their impact a country’s citizens.  I was also surprised to hear that when Prof. van de Walle first started working for the UN, he was not allowed to mention corruption.  Nowadays, high level corruption is heavily considered when countries are deciding which governments to give aid to.