Ebola and Corruption: Overcoming Critical Governance Challenges in a Crisis Situation

Since the end of 2013, the Ebola virus disease has been ravaging the economies and societies of Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea-Conakry, infecting over 20,000 people by the end of 2014. The disease also spread to Nigeria, though it was quickly contained. An estimated $1 billion in international public and private aid has been dispersed to these countries to try to stem the epidemic (Grépin 2015). Corruption played a key role in the outbreak, spread, and slow containment of Ebola in these affected countries.