Transparency International's 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) came out on 25 January 2022, and provided us with a snapshot of the perceived level of corruption in public sectors across 180 countries and territories. Through a scale of 0 to 100 - 0 being highly corrupt and 100 being clean -, the non-profit organization concluded on a stagnation for this year’s ranking, with the majority of the jurisdictions having made no significant progress in addressing their corruption concerns.

Despite this less than thrilling update, for the fourth consecutive year, Seychelles has demarcated itself as the least corrupt country in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a score of 70 (2020 score: 66), and takes the 23^rd spot globally. The steady rise in performance on the CPI over the years is attributed to substantial open government and anti-corruption reforms; however, the country needs to undertake more stringent measures with regard to its financial secrecy issues.

Rank-wise, Mauritius has recorded its best performance in the CPI 2021, taking the fourth spot in the Sub-Saharan region and the 49^th position on the global ranking (2020: 52^nd worldwide). Mauritius totalled a score of 54 for 2021– one point above its 2020 score - attesting progress made in its fight against corruption.

Cabo Verde (58), Botswana (55) and Rwanda (53) are the other top five scorers in the Sub-Saharan region.

Access the full report from Transparency International here