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African anti-corruption agencies’ digital platform usage
Posted by David Fellows and John Leonardo [1] The release of TI’s 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) on 28 January 2021 has focused attention in many countries on current corruption levels. In a recent blog we outlined the possible role social media platforms offer for promoting online public engagement in the war against corruption. We…
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Digital Media, Transparency and the War Against Corruption
Posted by David Fellows and John Leonardo[1] Corruption is highly damaging to economic and social life through misappropriation of public funds, restriction of open market activity, favouritism towards families of those in power, and the many detrimental effects of rent seeking. In this piece we review evidence for the power of transparency to reduce corruption…
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Corruption and social media correlation outcomes in Africa
Does social media usage have any impact on country corruption levels? We have investigated the relationship between corruption and social media usage in Africa at a country level and present our findings below. Methodology Transparency International’s 2019 CPI scores published in January 2020 are taken to represent the measure of corruption in Africa. The social…
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Note: Improving PFM digital transparency in African finance ministries
by John Leonardo Introduction This note provides an introduction to our “Improving PFM digital transparency in African finance ministries” presentation which is also available as a video. Transparency of public finances is a key element of a public financial management (PFM) system enabling public scrutiny of government actions and intentions. Transparency of public finances is…
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Small Island Developing States, COVID-19 and Digital Technology
Posted by David Fellows[1]and John Leonardo[2] The impact of COVID-19 COVID-19 has changed behaviour throughout the world and social distancing has been the key driver. Workers in factories, shops and offices have been protected by creating greater space between workstations, erecting protective screens and using protective clothing. Distancing requirements have been introduced in bars, cafes,…
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Developing Systems to Combat Corruption
Posted by David Fellows[1] Introducing the concept of “objective data” In March 2018, we republished a short note on the use of objective data to combat corruption [2]. The piece highlighted statistical techniques being used in western countries to identify corruption by correlating unorthodox procurement practices with aberrant supplier behaviour established from factually based ‘objective’ administrative…
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Forthcoming blog: Developing Systems to Combat Corruption
In a March 2018 blog PFMConnect co-principal David Fellows discussed the deficiencies surrounding corruption perception indices and outlined how objective data analysis could offer a clearer insight into the systemic nature of corrupt behaviour, thus providing a more precise indication of the corrupt parts of an administration, the number of external parties that are engaged…
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How Useful are Perception Indices of Corruption to Developing Countries?
Posted by David Fellows[1] The value and limitations of perception indices There are numerous corruption perception indices. They provide an outsider’s impression of the prevalence of corruption across the various branches of government. Some indices focus on issues of bribery, others are more general in scope. Some indices aim to engage with the general public,…
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Videos addressing good public financial management
We have commenced the publishing of videos about aspects of our work associated with supporting good public financial management. We list below the videos available to-date: Small island developing states need improvements in their digital communication infrastructure to help them recover from COVID-19. We have set out four collaboration approaches for SIDS and their stakeholders to consider actioning in…
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Public financial management weaknesses can lead to corruption
Mauritania’s experience Global corruption trends Two recent reports on Global corruption trends highlight a number of states facing serious challenges and our analysis indicates some interesting links between corruption and standards of public financial management. Transparency International’s recently released 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index for 2016 indicates that Mauritania’s ranking deteriorated noticeably in 2016 compared to…