African Governance Report 2009

The African Governance Report, which assesses and monitors the progress of governance in Africa, is the most comprehensive periodic report on governance on the continent. This second edition of the report covers 35 African countries. The main finding of the report is that Africa within the last five years recorded marginal progress on governance. The gains on political governance have been mixed. While the scope for political representation and competitive electoral politics, human rights and the observance of rule of law have improved; party and electoral systems remain weak and poorly institutionalized, with elections emerging as a conflict trigger, rather than a conflict resolution mechanism. The accountability of the executive is on a slight increase, with countervailing checks from the other governance actors and institutions-state and non-state. The areas of the economy have witnessed progressive strides. Economic governance and public sector management and private sector development and corporate governance have been marked by progressive policies leading to a steady growth in the economies of many African countries. But challenges abound. The management of the tax system is poor, service delivery to most sections of the population remains unsatisfactory, and corruption is a major challenge to sustainable economic progress and development in Africa. Corruption undermines Africa's capacity to realize its full development potentials. Sustaining the modest progress on governance in Africa requires continuous capacity enhancement in key sectors of governance. Such capacity building should be in-ward looking, regionally and nationally based, and tap into Africa's rich human capital in the Diaspora.