Examining the Impact of E-Governance on Corruption in Africa: The Mediating Effects of Institutional Quality

This study examined the influence of e-governance on corruption, focusing on the mediating role of institutional quality across 29 African countries from 2013 to 2022. Drawing on principal-agent and institutional theories, the research tested four hypotheses to investigate how e-governance and institutional quality interact to reduce corruption. Using the Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) model and a two-step Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) for robustness, the study found that e-governance significantly reduced corruption, both directly and indirectly through improvements in institutional quality. Moreover, the study found that e-governance significantly reduces corruption in technologically advanced countries. Results from both high- and low-income countries reported that e-governance significantly reduces corruption. The results also showed that stronger institutions enhanced the effectiveness of digital governance reforms in curbing corruption. This implies that policymakers should strengthen institutional frameworks alongside digital reforms to improve anti-corruption efforts and adapt approaches to fit Africa’s varied governance environments for sustainable development.