On Tuesday, Transparency International (TI) released their 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), revealing that many sub-Saharan African countries remain among the most corrupt world-wide.

The annually-released index ranks how corrupt governments are perceived to be, according to international institutions such as the World Economic Forum, the World Bank and the African Development Bank. The 2009 CPI ranked 180 countries on perceived levels of domestic public sector corruption based on up to 13 independent surveys per country. The countries are ranked on a scale of 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (perceived to have low levels of corruption).

Somalia was ranked as the most corrupt nation in the index, followed by other conflict-ridden and fragile states, such as Sudan and Chad. The vast majority of sub-Saharan African countries ranked in the bottom of the index, demonstrating that much of the region is still plagued by poor governance and corrupt practices.

Patrick Berg, program coordinator for TI, explained the link between poverty and corruption: “Where you find poverty, corruption usually hits people the hardest,” he said. However, the news is not all bad: Berg said that countries who have made consistent efforts to improve their governance, such as Botswana, Mauritius and Cape Verde, have improved their rankings.

Huguette Labelle, chair of TI maintains that countries at the bottom of the index should not be left out of development efforts. The poor rankings indicate, rather, that there is a need to strengthen country institutions. “Stemming corruption requires strong oversight by parliaments, a well performing judiciary, independent and properly resourced audit and anti-corruption agencies, vigorous law enforcement, transparency in public budgets, revenue and aid flows, as well as space for independent media and a vibrant civil society,” said Labelle. “The international community must find efficient ways to help war-torn countries to develop and sustain their own institutions.”

Check out this interactive map to see how countries scored in this year’s CPI.

On Monday, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation announced that they would not award their $5 million prize for excellence in African leadership this year. The Foundation, created by Sudanese telecommunications mogul Mo Ibrahim, has awarded the prize for the past two years to encourage responsible, democratic leadership across Africa. The prize, given last year to former president of Botswana, Festus Gontebanye Mogae, is awarded to a former African leader who has demonstrated excellence in leadership, served their term in office within the limits set by the country’s constitution, and has left office in the last three years. The guidelines for the prize, however, stipulate that if there is no exceptional candidate in a given year, then the prize will not be awarded.

The prize is only one part of the Foundation’s larger effort to promote good governance and highlight leadership on the African continent; it acts as an effective complement to the Ibrahim Index of African Governance. The Index, the third iteration of which was released recently, is a comprehensive ranking of African governments. In the 2009 Index, each country is measured by 84 indicators grouped into four categories: Safety and Security, Participation and Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity, and Human Development.

Overall, Southern Africa was the best performing region with Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Lesotho all included in the top 10. Southern African country Mauritius claimed the top spot in the rankings, coming in first in all four categories, followed by Cape Verde, Seychelles and Botswana. North Africa was the second-best overall performer, followed by West Africa and East Africa. According to the index, Central Africa was the worst-performing region on the continent with all seven of its countries scoring outside the top 20. Somalia ranked as the worst-governed nation in Africa, behind Zimbabwe and Chad. Rwanda was ranked surprisingly poorly in this year’s index: the country dropped to 32 from its place at 18 last year.

This year’s index includes data from both 2007 and 2008, making it one of the most current measurements of African governance. It also includes new indicators as well as a new framework for assessing governance comprehensively on the continent. For the first time, rather than focusing only on sub-Saharan Africa, the 2009 index includes measurements for North Africa. The index now measures all 53 African countries, allowing for a look at governance in Africa as a whole. Paul Collier, author of the Bottom Billion and Director of the Center for the Study of African Economies at the University of Oxford praised the Ibrahim index, lauding its comprehensive and unbiased nature as well as the fact that “it is an exclusively African undertaking.”

In an op-ed released on Monday, Ibrahim discussed the importance of African governance, saying: “Ultimately, both the index and the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, the $5m prize we award to former African leaders, are about improving the lives of Africans through better governance and excellence in leadership.” The work of the Mo Ibrahim foundation, both through the prize and the Index on governance, is extremely important in highlighting the crucial issue of good governance in Africa. According to the 2009 Index about half of African countries did improve this year. However, having no clear winner for the prize indicates how much more work there is to do.

Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs, spoke at the National Press Club yesterday about what the State Department’s policy towards Africa will be under the Obama administration. Carson, who was sworn in last month, highlighted four areas of focus: strengthening democratic institutions, preventing conflict, fostering economic growth and partnering with Africa to combat global threats. Carson has been working closely with President of Obama and Secretary Clinton who he says are deeply engaged in African issues.

“There is no question that some of our past presidents have engaged Africa, but none have engaged this early,” Carson said in reference to Obama’s upcoming trip to Africa.

Carson said that his first area of focus would be strengthening democratic institutions. Despite recent political crises in countries like Zimbabwe and Kenya, Carson pointed out that overall Africa is seeing great progress. Carson noted that in 1973 there were only 3 sub-Saharan African countries that were considered democratic. Today, there are 11 countries considered democratic and 23 considered partially democratic.

“We have to encourage those in civil society to be the voice and conscience of their countries,” Carson said. He points to Kofi Annan’s plan to mediate the post-election crisis in Kenya (which Carson observed on the ground) as an example.

Preventing conflict is Carson’s second focus. The key, he says, is addressing emerging conflicts quickly and diplomatically. Just weeks into the job he said has been working on preventing the further escalation of conflict in Somalia, Kenya and Mauritania.

Next, Carson plans to focus on fostering sustained economic growth. According to him, from the late 1990s up until 2007 many African nations were growing at a rate between 4 and 6.5% GDP.

“If Africa is going to take its place in the world, it must do so under sustained economic growth,” Carson said. Carson points to agriculture as the most important, but neglected, area of international development, and an opportunity for sustained growth. Seventy percent of Africa is dependent on agriculture as a primary or secondary source of income, and it makes up 40 percent of Africa’s GDP.

Finally, Carson plans to partner with Africa to combat global threats. Climate change is one threat he has personally observed. Carson has been to the top of Mt. Kilamanjaro and has witnessed the disappearance of the glacier there.

“What about those living at the bottom of the mountain who use the water from that glacier for their crops?” Carson asks. When it comes to climate change, a partnership with Africa could produce great results in renewable energy, especially solar energy.

As former ambassador to Uganda, Zimbabwe and Kenya, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs has had a great deal of experience in these areas. He has traveled to forty of forty-eight sub-Saharan African countries and served as Staff Director to the House Sub-Committee on Africa. His background clearly links him to the continent and he will surely inform much of the action that the Obama administration takes towards Africa.

-Nick Stevens

Professor Wangari Maathai spoke on the Today Programme this morning on BBC Radio 4. She founded the Green Belt Movement and is the only African woman to have won the Nobel Peace Prize. Maathai argues that good governance is absolutely essential for development: “I’ve come to the conviction, unless we fix governance, the rest will not be fixed.”

For this to happen, it needs African leaders to show commitment. She goes on to say that the African Union has an important role to play in all this. She specifically mentions President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, who is keen to make the African Union more democratic.

-Jessica Gomez-Duran

In the Financial Times, Mo Ibrahim argues that while investment and good governance will ultimately solve Africa’s problems, “effective aid has an important role to play in the quest for sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction.” Ibrahim offers this assessment in light of the recent debate about aid in the wake of Dambisa Moyo’s book Dead Aid. Ibrahim argues for a “holistic approach to development in Africa that is centred on good governance.”

Excerpts below, full piece here

The critical argument should not be about aid or no aid – no one can question the necessity of pure humanitarian aid as long as it satisfies basic good governance criteria. The argument should be about where to focus aid to achieve the best returns for donor taxpayers and aid recipients. I propose two areas to focus aid: the hardware of Africa, infrastructure and regional integration; and human software, in the form of education and health.

The reality is that most African countries are sub-scale and fundamentally unable to compete in a global market. If economies the size of the UK, Germany and France find regional integration necessary to ensure growth, then 53 un-integrated African states have a competitive disadvantage. This fragmentation is evident in Africa’s transportation infrastructure, geared towards trade outside rather than within the continent. Africa needs to integrate its economies and open their borders to each other. Development aid can help these efforts and facilitate intra-African trade. This capital investment cannot succeed without investment in education and health.

Finally, while debate on development aid is of great importance, more of this energy should be spent on climate justice. Africans have emitted the least carbon per capita but will have to face the greatest consequences of its emission. A worthier use of the time of these great African and other economists is to devise a solution that allows the continent to meet the adaptation and mitigation costs of climate change.

-Chris Scott

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s first meeting earlier this week with President Obama comes amidst a deepening global economic crisis. The two pledged a new era of international cooperation and the pointed to the work jointly to find solutions.

President Obama said:

We talked about the economic crisis and how that’s affecting not only developed countries, but very poor countries around the world, and the potential threat to food supplies if it continues to worsen, and the need for international coordination.

The UN Secretary-general, who has said we also need to be concerned not only with Wall Street or Main Street, but those who have no streets,” emphasized that:

Leaders of G20 should not lose sight of the challenges and plight of hundreds of hundreds of millions of poorest people of the developing countries who have been impacted by this economic crisis. The leaders of industrialized countries should keep their commitment on Millennium Development goals and official development assistance, and help developing countries overcome food security and also help them to adapt and mitigate climate change.

His visit comes on the heels of more bad news about the crisis. According to a World Bank study prepared for next Saturday’s meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors in London:

The global economy is likely to shrink this year for the first time since World War Two, with growth at least 5 percentage points below potential. World Bank forecasts show that global industrial production by the middle of 2009 could be as much as 15 percent lower than levels in 2008. World trade is on track in 2009 to record its largest decline in 80 years, with the sharpest losses in East Asia.

This is especially troubling for those least responsible for the crisis — the extreme poor. The study goes on to warn of financing shortfalls of anywhere between $270-700 billion as commodity prices continue to decline, global trade collapses, trade finance and private capital flows dry up and remittances drop.

And according to IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, “The worst of the crisis is still to come,” specifically in Africa. The poorest countries lack the social safety nets to deal with the crisis and are becoming increasingly dependent on overseas development assistance.

Unfortunately even before the financial crisis hit, rich countries were falling short of their commitments by about $39 billion a year. At least in the U.S., the President’s budget (PDF) goes against the tide. It designated $51.7 billion for the State Department and other International Affairs Programs, a $4.5 billion increase from fiscal year 2009.

As the situation continues to spiral download, some people are looking to the April 2 G20 summit in London to provide a more pro-poor response. Both the UN Secretary-general and President Obama will participate in the G20 meeting.

-Anita Sharma, UN Millennium Campaign

Check out this post from our friends at Amnesty International USA.

-Margaret McDonnell

My work with Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) brings me in close communication with the brave persons fighting for their civil, economic and social rights in Zimbabwe. This includes labor rights activists and civil society members, but the majority of this contact centers on a group of women human rights defenders. AIUSA chose this group of women as a special focus case of Individuals at Risk for 2008-2009. In my work, I have the privilege of interacting with Jenni Williams, co-founder of Women of Zimbabwe Arise. Jenni shares inspirational words about the power of activists around the world to keep her safe from government brutality. She states that knowing her plight is broadcast around the world every time she is imprisoned for asking for such things as the equitable distribution of food aid, provides comfort for her in her cold, dank prison cell because she knows people are mobilizing to secure her release and safety.

Through peaceful protest Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), and their sibling organization, Men of Zimbabwe Arise, focus attention on the problems in Zimbabwe that directly affect them and their families, such as food security issues, freedom of speech and assembly, health care and corruption. Jenni has been imprisoned more than 20 times, often beaten and harmed while detained, and yet continues to bravely march forward to provide a voice and motivation for all Zimbabweans struggling for a better life. Everyone has certain people in their lives they admire and respect for their skills, talents or other qualities. For me, that person is Jenni. She is a rock star. She marches out onto the streets of Zimbabwe, knowing she could be harmed for her beliefs but does it anyway in the hopes of improving the lives of all her fellow citizens.

Last week over 100 WOZA members were arrested and detained for marching in Harare and Bulawayo. Jenni and WOZA’s other co-founder, Magodonga Mahlangu, were not arrested in the demonstrations, but will be brought before the courts on February 26 for charges of disturbing the peace related to a protest in October 2008. Amnesty International USA currently has two actions you can take as we work to create safe operating space for all human rights defenders in Zimbabwe. The first action asks activists to send Valentines to Mugabe, showing that love is the greater power. The second action, found here, calls on the Minister of Justice to drop the trumped up charges against Jenni and Magodonga and not continue with their trial. Both of these actions will continue for the next two weeks.

Finally, you can see a documentary clip of Jenni speaking about the challenges of operating as a human rights defender in Zimbabwe. I hope you take the time to watch the video, are as inspired by these brave women as I, and will participate in these actions.

-Sarah E. Hager, Chair, Southern Africa Co-Group, Amnesty International USA

On Tuesday, the Transatlantic Taskforce on Development released their first-ever report. The Taskforce – the only one of its kind – brings together individuals from the United States, Canada, and Europe, representing governments, NGOs, and the private sector, to discuss global development issues. The Taskforce was assembled by the German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs; ONE’s Executive Director, Jamie Drummond, is a member of the 24-person Taskforce.

The Taskforce’s report presents policy ideas on which North America and Europe can collaborate in order to pursue a broad development agenda, even in the face of the current global financial crisis. The authors laud past moments of international consensus around development – like the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – but are adamant that without spurring economic growth in developing countries, and meeting Official Development Assistance (ODA) and trade commitments, recent gains in combating poverty are likely to be reversed.

Meeting the funding commitments previously made to developing countries – and demonstrating that aid does work – is particularly essential in light of the global financial crisis and the threat of decreased development assistance. As the report notes, “It will be increasingly vital to continue to demonstrate that aid actually works, and to show results and impact. A clear message of how the development agenda is linked to the interests of those in developed countries must be repeated and reinforced.”

The Taskforce report provids policy recommendations in four areas in which transatlantic cooperation is necessary for achieving global development goals. It emphasizes that the policy environment in which development takes place must be based on trust and inclusion among developed and developing countries, and encourages policy coherence between North America and Europe. The following is from the GMF press release on the Taskforce meeting:

(more…)

The New York Times is reporting that Zimbabwe’s opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has decided to join a power-sharing government as prime minister with President Robert Mugabe. This decision was reached unanimously at a meeting of the opposition party’s leadership in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. The Times reports that it will “usher in a new phase in the opposition’s decade-long struggle against Mr. Mugabe, 84, and his almost 30-year grip on power.” We’ll bring you any further developments as they occur.

Excerpts from the breaking news below, full report here

Mr. Tsvangirai now faces the daunting job of reviving Zimbabwe’s moribund economy and rescuing an increasingly famished, sick and impoverished population with a partner, Mr. Mugabe, whose security forces have viciously beaten Mr. Tsvangirai and thousands of his supporters over the past two years and abducted and allegedly tortured dozens more in just the last few months.

But after more than four months of deadlock and uncertainty following Mr. Tsvangirai’s signing of the power-sharing deal with Mr. Mugabe, his followers reacted with hope that he might be able to stop the country’s accelerating downward spiral.

The challenges are monumental, and the distrust of Mr. Mugabe is so deep that it is uncertain whether the United States and European nations will lift sanctions and infuse substantial new aid for the reconstruction of Zimbabwe until they have solid evidence that he will agree to sweeping changes in the country’s disastrous economic policies, the restoration of the rule of law and democracy.

-Chris Scott

Almost two thirds of sub-Saharan African governments (31 out of 48) have recorded improvements in performance, according to new data from the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, which was released in Ethiopia today by the Ibrahim Foundation. The Index ranks African governments based on the quality of services they provide to their citizens, using an extensive set of 57 indicators that range from rule of law and security to healthcare and infrastructure. Mauritius topped this year’s index, with a score of 85.1 out of 100, followed by Seychelles, Cape Verde, Botswana and South Africa. Liberia was applauded for making the most improvement since last year’s index. 2006 data were used in this year’s index (because of a lag in data collection), meaning that recent developments in many African countries may not reflected in the rankings.

The Ibrahim Foundation was established by telecommunications mogul Mo Ibrahim, who has long been an advocate for improved governance and accountability in sub-Saharan Africa.

As Reuters reports, Ibrahim made the following statement at the launch:

“People look at headlines from two or three countries and forget there are 55 countries in Africa and in most of them life is normal,” Mo Ibrahim told Reuters during the launch of his foundation’s index in Ethiopia.

“Governance performance across a large majority of African countries is improving…I hope these results will be used as a tool by Africa’s citizens to hold their governments to account.”

The Ibrahim Foundation also awards an annual prize of $5 million to an African leader (executive Head of State or Government) who has demonstrated excellence in leadership. Last year’s winner was former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, who has been credited for bringing peace and democracy to a country that had been ravaged by civil war for over 17 years.

You can read more about the Index here and the Prize here.

-Nora Coghlan