African governments on the improve, but corruption on the rise – UN report

African nations have made marginal progress in the core areas of governance over the last four years, according to a new United Nations report, which has expressed concern over a rise in corruption in the continent’s authorities in the same period.

The second edition of the African Governance Report, an overview of the state of governance in 35 African countries, highlighted a 3 per cent decline in the corruption control index.

“Corruption remains the single most important challenge to the eradication of poverty, the creation of predictable and favourable investment environment and general socioeconomic development in Africa,” said the report, which was recently released by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

A key finding of the report shows that although elections in Africa are more regular, they are still flawed and in many countries the quality of the elections remains suspect, with incumbent parties remaining hostile to the opposition which is unable to be competitive.

Despite a negative performance on issues involving corruption, there has been a two per cent increase on governance indices overall, including in areas of human rights, the rule of law, the effectiveness of the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, as well as independence of civil society organizations and the media.

Positive trends in the continent’s economies and the role of women in public life were also spotlighted in the report, with indices indicating a six per cent rise in pro-investment policies, up to 3 per cent increase in efficient economic management and tax systems, and more women represented in national parliaments than anywhere else in the world.