African nations have taken the biggest steps in reducing corruption over the past 10 years, the World Bank has said.

A report measuring the quality of government in 212 countries from 1996 to 2006 found Africa had shown the greatest improvement.

The report judged whether countries had free media, political stability, the rule of law and control of corruption.

Countries in decline included Zimbabwe and Venezuela, but there were as many gainers as losers.

Critical for growth

Legitimate and effective political authority in managing society’s affairs is crucial to eliminating poverty and lifting the standards of living of the citizens in a country, the report concluded.

“Such improvements in governance are critical for aid effectiveness and for sustained long-run growth,” said Daniel Kaufmann, co-author of the report and director of global programmes at the World Bank.

“Bribery around the world is estimated at about $1 trillion (£494bn) and the burden of corruption falls disproportionately on the bottom billion people living in extreme poverty,” he continued.

The bank’s Governance Matters, 2007: Worldwide Governance Indicators 1996-2006 study highlighted the number of African countries that had made great strides in improving various aspects of government.

Kenya, Niger and Sierra Leone, which suffered a decade of civil war until 2002, were picked out for marked improvements in allowing their people the right to choose their government and freedom of expression, which includes an unconstrained press.

Angola, Rwanda and Sierra Leone were also acknowledged for their enhanced political stability.

Little overall improvement

The report noted the fast-paced progress of emerging economies, including Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Costa Rica, which score higher on key dimensions of governance than their industrialised counterparts, including Greece and Italy.

But on the whole, the bank said there had been little improvement to the quality of government around the world over the past decade.

Shlomo Yitzhaki, director of Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics and Professor of Economics at Hebrew University, said the World Bank’s governance indicators were a “crucial tool” for policy analysts and decision-makers benchmarking their countries.

“It definitely sets a standard for transparency in data,” he added.

Good governance has increasingly become a key factor in granting aid to developing countries, and was a policy closely associated with World Bank head Paul Wolfowitz, who was forced to resign last month.

BBC NEWS | Business | African corruption ‘on the wane

Africa Diaspora Development Day (AD3)

“Business and Education – Leadership and Skills for Development”

Hosted by University of East London School of Education

• Date: 7th July, 2007
• Venue: University of East London (UEL), Docklands Campus (Cyprus Station on DLR) Directions to Venue follow link:  http://www.uel.ac.uk/about_uel/why_uel/travelwise.htm
• Time: 9.30am – 6.00pm
• Fee: None, but we would appreciate it if participants would contribute £10 towards the cost of the African Refreshments that will be served. Nobody will be turned away because of an inability to pay

‘Business, Education, Leadership and Skills for Development: African Diaspora and Development Day (AD3)’ will continue the exploration of ways in which UK based Africans can develop themselves to enhance job prospects and development in Africa.

AD3 is returning to the University of East London (UEL) Docklands Campus for 2007.  This is where, in 2000, AFFORD first pioneered the AD3 concept of bringing together Africans in the diaspora to add value to their existing contributions to Africa’s development. Since then AD3 has become an innovative fixture on the diaspora calendar.

In 2007 UEL’s School of Education is taking the AD3 concept further – bringing together its undergraduates, graduates and postgraduate students (about one third are Africans), members of diaspora groups drawn from African Voices for Africa’s Development (ADVAD), as well as Resource Persons from AFFORD’s Supporting Entrepreneurs and Enterprise Development in Africa (SEEDA) project to help define the role of the academy in supporting the diasporas’ contribution to development, to validate and energise ‘ebony towers’, to build healthy partnerships between business, education and the third sector.

It will explore how to build on on-going business, skills and education development projects such as:

• How can education deliver the understandings, personal and professional skills Africans in the Diaspora need to enhance their contributions to development in Africa – listening to the voices of students and staff from UEL and other ‘Ivory Towers’. 
• Supporting African students who have aspirations to establish businesses (including education establishments and services on their return home)
• Networking and strategic planning for ADVAD’s members
• Enhancing the effectiveness AFFORD’s (SEEDA) project
• Strengthening the networks of Africans focused on sustainable development

You will find the event particularly useful if you are:

• An African student at UEL looking to enhance your personal and professional development
• A member of ADVAD
• A SEEDA resource persons who wants to explore ways of making the programme even more effective
• A member of the African diaspora already contributing or interested in contributing to development in Africa 
• Are contributing to development in Africa 

For information contact:

• Reese Lee-Ellis or Kavita Teja at The School of Education Help Desk (020 8223 3112) to request further information (please note they will only be able to forward enquiries and please be patient, the desk normally handles student enquiries and there is only one line) or
• Jasbir Panesar, Community Development Co-ordinator (020 8223 4356)
• For information from AFFORD on AD3 please contact Onyekachi Wambu – Information Officer – onyekachi@afford-uk.org or 0207 587 3905

Watch “A Homecoming for Jobs in Africa” (30-minute documentary about AFFORD’s SEEDA initiative), at:

http://www.business actionforafrica. magnify.net/ item/K1PDXJ40PM7 K330D

A body to standardise air safety measures across Africa has been inaugurated in Namibia.

The Africa Civil Aviation Agency (ACAA) will be based in the capital, Windhoek, and will train pilots and co-ordinate aviation policy across the continent.

Africa accounts for only 3% of global air traffic, but is responsible for 17% of fatal air crashes.

The agency’s director says it will bring Africa’s safety standards into line with those in Europe and the US.

Human error

The BBC’s Frauke Jensen in Windhoek says most accidents are deemed to be human error, often not caused by a lack of skills but pressure from operators.

Our reporter says the ACAA wants to change the attitudes of aviators, companies and governments, many of whom have little regard for safety and regulations when there is money to be made.

“What we’re trying to pull away from the African aviators’ way of looking at things, is the culture of ‘Nobody’s looking at you so you don’t have to adhere to the rules’,” ACAA head Mwangi waKamau told the BBC.

“What we’re trying to develop here is a culture where you yourself feel fully responsible when you’re in an aviation situation when you’re handling an airport and you’re maintaining an aircraft to maintain the safety culture with or without someone looking over your back,” he said.

The ACAA will also have five regional bodies based in Libya, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa to serve as networking agencies under its auspices.

A wing and a prayer

One in five fatal accidents happen in Africa.

Earlier this month, a helicopter carrying Togolese football fans crashed in Sierra Leone, killing 22 people.

A Kenya Airways Boeing 737 crashed into swampland in Cameroon soon after take-off, killing all 114 passengers in May.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, where there are almost no roads and many people depend on air transport, has one of the worst records.

According to the African Airlines Association, it accounts for well over half of Africa’s accidents in the last decade.

The BBC’s Arnaud Zajtman in DR Congo says about 20 airlines operate in the vast country, many using old Antonov cargo planes with passengers sitting on plastic chairs.

Often there are no windows, so it is dark inside, and packed with passengers who spend the journey praying. They thank God and clap for the pilots when they land safely, he says.

Nigeria has also experienced a series of tragic plane crashes leading to some 300 deaths in the last two years.

BBC NEWS | Africa | Africa body to improve air safety