Module 2: Why infrastructure projects are prone to corruption
Insufficient anti-corruption controls
Corruption is also facilitated by a general lack of adequate anti-corruption controls throughout the infrastructure sector.
Lack of government controls: Many governments do not implement adequate anti-corruption controls (prevention, investigation and prosecution). Some public officials are the cause of corruption.
Lack of corporate controls: Most project owners, contractors, suppliers and consultants do not implement adequate anti-corruption controls within their organisations.
Lack of project controls: There are inadequate anti-corruption controls implemented in relation to projects. Most anti-corruption controls which are implemented focus mainly on the procurement phase and ignore other project phases.
Lack of systematic approach to addressing corruption: To be effective, anti-corruption controls need to be implemented effectively and systematically by all major project participants throughout the project.
The following three diagrams illustrate the difference in the value outcome of infrastructure projects which have (1) no effective controls, (2) some effective controls, and (3) effective controls.
The project is represented by a pipe (blue).
Value is represented by water pumped into the pipe under pressure (green).
Corruption in the various phases of the project is represented by leaks in the pipe (red).
Leakage can be prevented by fixing the holes in the pipe using good controls.
If only some leaks are fixed, the water will come out of the other leaks at higher pressure. Therefore, all leaks need to be fixed throughout the project cycle.
January 2025
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