CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE IMPACT OF CORRUPTION ON AFRICAN ECONOMIES: THEORY OF PUBLIC COICEINTRODUCTIONAfrica is perceived as the “Garden of Eden” due to its abundant wealth in copper , aluminum, gold, diamond and crude oil, but it is one of the most underdeveloped regions in the world due to corruption, which constitutes a major constraint to wealth creation and African economic growth. Public choice involves applying economic methods to the study of politics. Corruption can be addressed by integrating the lessons of public choice theory into the design and execution of new anti-corruption programs. Ideas include introducing relevant rules, reforming existing laws and institutions, establishing more effective and relevant incentive structures and enforcement mechanisms to reduce the likelihood of opportunism. Nye (1964:419) defines corruption as behavior that deviates from the normal duties of a public role because of gains in status. Alam (1989:442) views corruption as a deviation from the norms or practices of modern bureaucracy. Many people in developing countries, particularly in Africa, view corruption from a more practical perspective. They see it as a synonym for theft of public resources by civil servants; illegal taxes on economic activities; nepotism; misappropriation of public funds and differential treatment of business owners who expect bribes from the entrepreneur receiving preferential treatment (Rashee 1995: 44). In the early 1960s, Gordo Tullock and James M. Bichana, who studied the political dimension of wealth creation and economic growth, introduced the public choice model as a more effective paradigm for public policy analysis. Public choice theory provides relevant recommendations on how ...... middle of paper ......r draining funds. According to the two schools of thought mentioned above, corruption can either promote economic development or undermine it. In the case of anti-corruption, public choice theory can be used as a remedy because it recommends ways to remedy the corruption predicament. In a word, of course, corruption can bring both advantages and disadvantages to the economy of a country, but since the disadvantages outweigh the advantages, because only the elites benefit from it, while the rest As many of the nation's citizens suffer, corruption is a major problem. This is a question that African nations should seriously consider if they want to be categorized as developed nations. This issue of elites benefiting more from corruption than the rest of the citizenry is highlighted by the Nigerian case of “serve the few and starve the many,” which makes the citizens concerned rebellious...