For the past decade, Africa has exhibited strong economic growth and a new economic growth momentum has been established. The continent weathered the financial crisis and has bounced back.
But, headline economic growth is not enough. Deliberate policies to reduce inequalities and promote inclusion are now needed more than ever before. It is time to focus on people’s expectations – decent work, a living wage, access to basic service, more democracy and accountable governments. Africa and its people aim to be a pole for global growth in the decades ahead.
Over the last ten years, African governments have taken significant steps towards strengthening and solidifying governance activities, as one of its strategic priorities, while also deepening the awareness of governance. Functional institutions, visionary leadership and participatory governance mechanisms are key ingredients of the transformative agenda in Africa. Such an institutional milieu underpins economic and social development, as it favours long term investment, unlocks the potential for domestic resource mobilisation, unleashes entrepreneurial capacity and induces broad-based participation and property rights.
Governance is now one of the cornerstones of economic development. Good governance – in its political, social, and economic dimensions – underpins sustainable human development and the reduction of poverty. It defines the processes and structures that guide political and socio-economic relationships.
Good governance ensures that political, social and economic priorities are based on broad consensus in society and that the voices of the poorest and most vulnerable are heard in decision-making over the allocation of development resources. Poverty reduction programs are very often undermined by conflicts, a lack of public accountability, corruption and the exclusion of beneficiaries in the program processes.
Several factors have combined in recent years to give new impetus to the issue of governance in the development debate. Pervasive corruption, for example, weakens a government’s ability to function effectively and severely detracts from the equity goal in the provision of public services.
Another driving force has been the rise of pro-democracy movements on the continent demanding good governance and more responsive forms of government. The same can be said about the rising disquiet over the cost of corruption, in terms of both domestic and external resources. Similarly, the unparalleled increase in globalisation, and its even stronger imperatives for sound domestic policy environment and economic management, have been the motivating factors behind the quest for good governance.
The challenge for African governments is to create a system of governance that promotes, supports and sustains human development – especially for the poorest and most marginal. If citizens have no influence and oversight and the political leadership is irresponsible and not responsive to the voice of the people, the environment will be ripe for political instability, underdevelopment, corruption and socio-economic decay.
Corruption is closely linked to the absence of citizens’ influence and oversight, as well as an unresponsive and irresponsible political leadership. Corruption becomes prevalent when the people are not empowered to participate in the political process and have no means to hold political leaders and their administrations accountable for their decisions and actions.
Widespread corruption also reinforces existing economic and social inequalities, and it undermines the credibility of government and public institutions. Corruption transcends national borders and must be combated both at the national and global levels.
It all ought to start from securing a strong commitment at the highest political level, as it is often the most difficult hurdle. When corruption is widespread and involves the political establishment, fighting corruption will involve political risks.
To sustain a new culture that is corruption-free, the people must be empowered by making leaders accountable to the people and their stakeholders, providing access to information and providing the people with the education needed to understand issues and make informed decisions. A strong and independent press will be indispensable to this effort, as will the supremacy of the rule of law.
Prevention efforts must focus on the holders of offices of trust and also those who offer bribes. A code of conduct for private business should spell out what a corrupt practice is and what is legitimate business promotion.
Similarly, a public code of ethics should be developed to address the issue of corruption. A good prevention strategy requires strong enforcement to provide effective deterrence. Laws against corrupt behavior at all levels must be enforced without favour. Laws and regulations should be reviewed, in order to remove any ambiguities that create incentives for corrupt behavior.
While corruption is first and foremost a national problem, its international dimension has taken on increasing prominence as the world becomes more and more globalised. For over 30 years, since 1980, close to 1.4 trillion dollars were drained out of Africa.
Most of those capital flights were illegal in nature and were due to corruption, kickbacks, tax evasion, criminal activities, transactions of certain contraband goods and other illicit business activities across borders. The estimated resources leaving the African continent in the form of illicit financial transfers is significant, and such resources could be mobilised and invested into Africa’s transformation plan.
Eliminating development aid and promoting taxation among African citizens has been identified as a source for better governance in Africa. Taxation is integral to better governance and a more prosperous citizenry.
Where and how governments get their money is important in determining the behavior of these bodies in relation to the prosperity of their citizens. Ultimately, governments that depend on tax need their citizens to prosper.
Taxation is a mutually beneficial relationship that depends on the citizens feeling that their taxes are working to their advantage through improved public services, such as health care and education, while ensuring that governments have resources available at their disposal for other matters of the state. In the new African democratic dispensation, the power to tax and approve all public expenditure is vested in the legislature, acting in the interest of taxpayers and voters.
The legislatures’ role in sanctioning annual budgets and expenditures must not be merely ceremonial. They must undertake critical reviews, as dictated by the constitution and by their responsibility to taxpayers.
Greater parliamentary awareness of the wider economic and political consequences of tax policies and expenditure issues will be required. Many African countries have embarked on improving fiscal performance and the introduction of new tax regimes.
Tax evasion, in which both the taxpayer and tax collector can escape legal censure, is all too common in African countries, as a result of corruption and ineffective state institutions. As part of the fiscal reform process, it will be important to find ways to encourage citizens to pay their taxes, to introduce strong checks and balances to minimise corruption and to put in place strong enforcement systems to increase the risks associated with tax evasion. On the expenditure side, African governments must begin to keep fiscal expansion within limits that are compatible with domestic stabilisation and long-term growth and divert more resources to the vitally-needed services of education and healthcare.
As Africa seeks to build and strengthen capable states, there is the need to recognise the resiliency, legitimacy and relevance of African traditional institutions in the socio-cultural, economic and political lives of Africans, particularly in the rural areas. This is principally borne out by a growing recognition that capable democratic states must be grounded on indigenous social values and contexts, while adapting to changing realities.
This will require, among other actions, aligning and harmonising traditional governance institutions with the modern state. The question, therefore, is not whether the traditional and “modern” systems of governance are competing against each other, but how to integrate the two systems more effectively, in order to better serve citizens in terms of representation and participation, service delivery, social and health standards and access to justice.
Virtually, there is consensus that good governance should build on: effective states, mobilised civil societies and efficient private sectors. All three factors are necessary for sustained development.
Leave a Reply