Africa Governance Report that will be launched next month claims that current approaches for measuring corruption completely ignore the international dimension of corruption in Africa.
The UN Economic Commission for Africa made the remark yesterday when it disclosed that it will launch the fourth edition of the Africa Governance Report (AGR IV) on April 2, 2016, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The report, entitled “Measuring Corruption in Africa: the international dimension matters”, argues that current approaches for measuring corruption are predominantly perception-based and completely ignore the international dimension of corruption in Africa.
“The report urges African countries, therefore, to engage in improving their own governance agenda rather than undertaking the futile exercise of naming and shaming one another because of the given perception levels of corruption,” ECA noted.
AGR IV also identifies weak governance institutions as one of the main determinants of corruption.
Commenting on the report, ECA’s executive secretary, Carlos Lopes said, “Many corrupt practices on the continent are generated and abetted by non-African players.”
Consequently, Lopes stated that the problem of measuring corruption in Africa needs deep reflection with special attention to the roles of international players.