Governance in Africa

Africa needs jobs for the youth. The results of the management survey “German Business Investments in Africa” of the Global Perspectives Initiative, conducted by the Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach, shows that the main obstacles for German investors are problems of governance such as corruption, political instability and legal uncertainty.

“Bad governance is clearly known as an obstacle to growth and development,” stated Obiageli Ezekwesili in an interview with Deutsche Welle television. “If you want to remedy a situation in which basic norms and values of a society are distorted, you’ve got to fight.” Asked about the stride of the African country in tackling corruption, Oby Ezekwesili believes that in many African countries “the demand side for good governance and transparency is driven by an active citizenry”. While public discussion and scrutiny of the government have increased due to the ICT revolution, a lot needs to be done to build up institutions and systems that prevent the occurrence of corruption, she states.

Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, who was candidate for the office of the President of Nigeria in the 2019 election, is an economic policy expert and senior economic advisor at the Africa Economic Development Policy Initiative (AEDPI) and co-founder of the #BringBackOurGirls movement as well as the #RedCardMovement in Nigeria. Ezekwesili was Vice President of the World Bank’s Africa division and is former Nigerian Minister of Education, Minister of Solid Minerals, head of the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit as well as former chairperson of the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI). She is also founding director of Transparency International. In 2015, she was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the Time-100 Most Influential People and by New York Times as one of the 25 Women of Impact. In 2018, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. She is Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy and holds an MA in International Law and Diplomacy as well as an MA in Public Policy and Administration from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

At the GP Circle Dinner, we will discuss with this outstanding woman what good governance means in and for Africa, the hardest obstacles and what it needs for a real and sustainable change.