IDOS researcher Yabibal Walle participated as a lecturer and panelist in two events to mark the 2022 edition of International Anti-Corruption Day in Côte d’Ivoire. On December 7, 2022, Yabibal Walle delivered a public lecture titled „How Corruption Ruins the Economy, Institutions, and Social Cohesion“ to approximately 600 students at the University Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan. The event was attended by His Excellency Zoro Epiphane Ballo, Minister for the Promotion of Good Governance and the Fight against Corruption of the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, and the President of the University, among others. In addition, Mr. Walle participated as a panelist in the grand celebration of International Anti-Corruption Day at the Sofitel Ivoire Hotel on December 9, 2022. This event was attended by members of the Cabinet, high-ranking military officials, diplomats, and representatives of various social circles.
At both events, Yabibal Walle presented new empirical findings from his own work (written with various co-authors) on the detrimental effects of corruption on the economy, institutions, and social cohesion. In particular, he showed that corruption weakens the impact of access to finance on firm growth, increases growth volatility, dilutes the impact of infrastructure spending on economic growth, and affects social cohesion. His concluding message was that we should fight corruption not only because it ruins our economy, but also because it undermines our social cohesion: it erodes trust among individuals and toward the state, makes it difficult to work together for the common good, and jeopardises efforts to build an inclusive identity.
This engagement took place as part of the partnership between CIRES and the BMZ African-German Leadership Academy.
