Courtesy of Transparency International

Africa is still lowly ranked in the current Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index. And some APNAC countries are perceived poorly, even among African Countries.

Of the 20 African countries with existing APNAC Chapters, only two; Ghana and Senegal feature in the current Transparency International's top 10 least corrupt countries in Africa. In the overall worldwide rankings, however, the three countries are still seen to be in the less exemplary bracket with positions 69 (Ghana) and 71 (Senegal) out of 163 countries.

At the second tier are 3 APNAC countries that feature in the top 20 least corrupt countries in Africa. They are Tanzania, Burkina Faso and Rwanda. But they also rate poorly in the worldwide rankings, with Tanzania, the group's best performer, ranked 94 and Rwanda, the last in the group holding position 111.

Two of the countries where APNAC chapters are in formation, Botswana and South Africa, will be pleased to know that they are perceived to be less corrupt than all existing APNAC countries. Botswana is, in fact, No.1 out of the 52 African countries surveyed by Transparency International and 38 in the worldwide rankings. South Africa is second in Africa at a respectable 43 position worldwide.

At the tail end of Africa rankings are two APNAC countries, Chad and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Chad is ranked poorly at 172 worldwide out of 179 states surveyed.

Kenya and Sierra Leone are only marginally perceived to be better than Chad and DRC, both rating 150 in the worldwide rankings.

Of the countries setting up APNAC chapters, Angola is the fairly perceived, with a corruption rating much better than that of Kenya and the DRC.

Gambia and Cameroon are also poorly perceived but rate better than Kenya and the DRC.

Among the African countries with no APNAC members, the best perceived country is Cape Verde ranked 3rd in Africa and 49 in the worldwide rankings.

The worst perceived is Somalia, at no. 52 in Africa, slightly below the DRC and Kenya.

To view the comprehensive rank of all the African states Click here

These findings clearly demonstrate that African states must improve on governance to foster sustainable development.

Without effective and efficient institutions to curb the vice, any prospects of development will be futile.

The commencement of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) under NEPAD is a new tool for willing African states to utilise to develop new and strengthen prexisting institutions to promote good governance and democracy.

The APRM reviews a state's governance track record and then provides proposals on how a country can improve on its governance institutions to foster development and democracy.

Good governance will act as a launch pad for African states to aim to attain the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Source:

Transparency International (Click here for CPI global ranking 2007)