A new World Bank report released on Wednesday has shown that African countries such as Tanzania, Botswana and Mauritius have made significant gains in the control of corruption even matching the performance of rich countries in overall governance measures.
According to the World Governance Indicators (WGI) report issued by the World Bank offices in Nairobi, the countries are making rapid progress in governance showing some measures of “Afro-Optimismâ€.
“Progress reflects reforms in those countries where political leaders, policymakers, civil society and the private sector view good governance and corruption control as crucial for sustained and shared growthâ€, said Daniel Kaufmann, co-author of the report and Director of Governance at the World Bank Institute.
However, the report has faulted some African countries such as Zimbabwe, Eritrea and Cote D’Ivoire, which countries it said are experiencing a deterioration in several governance measures.
The indicators suggest that if there is commitment to reform, improvements in governance can and do occur.
According to the report, over the past decade from 1998-2007, five African countries have shown substantial improvements in governance, even if at times starting from a very low level.
The report notes that Ghana has shown voice in accountability, in Rwanda there has been absence of violence, Ethiopia has shown government effectiveness, the Democratic Republic of Congo has shown regulatory quality and in Liberia, there has been control of corruption.
The report points out that better governance helps in the fight against poverty and improves living standards, adding that when governance is improved by one standard deviation, infant mortality declines by two-thirds and income rises about three fold in the long run.
“Such an improvement in governance is within reach, since it is a fraction of the difference between the worst and best performersâ€, said the report.
Source African Press Agency
