Soaring inflation is just one reason for Washington to keep global disintegration in check.

Released last month, the 2021 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) confirmed what many Nigerians know intuitively—that a steady stream of official antigraft rhetoric has hardly made a dent on what many agree is the most formidable perennial challenge to the country’s long-term stability. President Buhari’s sentiment to the effect that “if Nigeria does not kill corruption, then corruption will kill Nigeria,” is widely shared. Not only is Nigeria down five places from its 2020 ranking, its total score of twenty-four out of a maximum one hundred points represents a drop for the third successive year, making it West Africa’s second most corrupt country. Guinea-Bissau, still reeling from a failed military takeover in early February, holds the dubious honor of being the most corrupt.  

Forget all the talk about the region’s “pink tide” and focus on which candidate is most likely to lift the greatest number of boats.

Once able to rely on larger-than-life finance ministers, the region’s business leaders now need to make the public case for free markets via retail politics.

This article was authored by Jamille Bigio, senior fellow with the Women and Foreign Policy program, and Cailin Crockett Truman National Security Fellow and former policy advisor on violence against …