The current status of corruption in Egypt

ABSTRACT

Given that corruption was one of the primary reasons that pushed the Egyptian masses to rally in 2011, it is important to look at its current status to see whether the levels of corruption have increased, decreased or remained the same since. This paper overviews the current status of corruption in Egypt according to different national and international perception indices. In an attempt to explain why corruption remains prevalent in Egypt, it looks at the different anticorruption efforts accomplished by the state and non-governmental organizations after 2011.

KEYWORDS:

• Corruption
• transparency
• governance
• Egypt

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. The ideas expressed in this paper represent those of the author and not necessarily the organization(s) to which he belongs.

Notes

1 For a detailed reading on this, see Iskander (2011), Fadel (2011) and Tufekci and Wilson (2012).

2 For a detailed reading on this, see Wei (1999) and World Bank (2009).

3 For complete information on this, see the World Bank’s world governance indicators (WGI); the Mo Ibrahim index on African governance; Transparency International’s (TI) bribe payers index; the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) global competitiveness report; and the Political Risk Services’ International Country Risk Guide.

4 The exchange rate when the conversion was made was £1 (GBP) = 11.63 Egyptian Pounds.

5 For a detailed reading on this, see http://www.madamasr.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/D8AFD8B1D8A7D8B3D8A920D8B9D98620D8AAD8ADD984D98AD98420D8AAD983D8A7D984D98AD98120D8A7D984D981D8B3D8A7D8AF2028229.pdf.

6 See the Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt 2014. http://www.sis.gov.eg/Newvr/Dustor-en001.pdf.

7 See the Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt 2014. http://www.sis.gov.eg/Newvr/Dustor-en001.pdf.

8 See the Egyptian Penal Code of 1937. http://www.arablegalportal.org/financial/legaldocs/anti-corruption/egypt/AnnexNo.1.pdf.

9 See Presidential Decree No. 294 of 2003. http://www.arablegalportal.org/financial/legaldocs/anti-corruption/egypt/AnnexNo.82.pdf.

10 See Presidential Decree No. 307 of 2004, http://www.arablegalportal.org/financial/legaldocs/anti-corruption/egypt/AnnexNo.83.pdf.

11 See the NCCCC creation document. http://www.pogar.org/publications/ac/2010/____%20____%20____%20_______%20___%202890%20____%202010[1].pdf.

12 See the NCCCC creation document. http://www.pogar.org/publications/ac/2010/____%20____%20____%20_______%20___%202890%20____%202010[1].pdf.

13 See the Central Auditing Organization’s official website. http://asa.gov.eg/Page.aspx?id=67.

14 See the Administrative Control Authority’s official website. http://www.aca.gov.eg/arabic/About/Pages/TermsOfReference.aspx; http://www.aca.gov.eg/arabic/About/Pages/CrimeSpecification.aspx.

15 See the Financial Supervisory Authority’s official website. http://www.efsa.gov.eg/content/efsa_ar/efsa_pages/main_efsa_page.htm.

16 See El-Shabaka El-Masreya Ltaazeez El-Shafafeya’. http://www.nazaha-eg.net.

17 See ‘Shayfenkom’. http://www.shayfeencom.org.