It gives me great satisfaction to know there is a special edition of Africa in Fact to coincide with the 10th anniversary celebration of Good Governance Africa that includes a gathering of the executive directors and other staff from all four of GGA’s African centres. A decade ago, GGA started from nothing, and we had to learn if the organisation could make a difference in helping the continent to reach its potential.
It gives me even greater satisfaction that I am now confident, with the encouragement GGA has received from funders, both from within Africa and across the globe, that the organisation is at a point where it is able to help African governments improve governance and attract the investment that will make the continent the most successful of all before the turn of this century.
The original thinking to establish GGA started in 2001 when I put together several leading thinkers from various walks of life. The outcome of our discussions was the belief that unless Africa could improve its governance, it would continue to fail to provide the climate necessary to build businesses to provide jobs, improve education, and meet all the other needs of a rapidly growing population that was falling behind the rest of the world.
Unlike some continents, Africa is blessed with all the resources that, if properly developed, can sustain the wellbeing of its growing populations. In the not-too-distant future, the population is expected to grow from the present 1.3 billion to 4 billion. So, what were the solutions to help Africa out of its mess and muddle? The answer lay in improving governance, which touches nearly everything, and unless this was improved, growing disaster was inevitable.
We had much to learn in building an entirely new organisation and in establishing centres in four different regions and cultures: Southern Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. Now, in light of this experience, GGA is convinced that nine main centres are required, led by professionally trained management from their regions.
What GGA has learnt is that corruption is a far greater challenge than was imagined at the outset. Of great concern has been the failure of political will on all continents to implement the provisions of the 2003 United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), a legally binding international instrument that has been ratified by 187 countries.
However, GGA has been greatly encouraged to learn of the successful work being done to establish an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC). In this regard, I would like to mention the dedication of a group of very good people led by Judge Mark Wolf in the US and Judge Richard Goldstone in South Africa, who have spent more than 10 years working on a treaty that will establish the IACC – in communication with many of the world’s leaders who have been appalled at the damage corruption has caused to Africa’s developmental efforts.
There is no doubt that if corruption can be significantly reduced on all continents, the growth of the world will be significantly improved, and with the support of an expanded GGA, from four to nine centres and from 50-1,000 people, Africa will become a very successful continent, too. We have complete confidence that if GGA expands in a well-managed and orderly way over the next 10 years, the organisation will attract the right funders from across the globe who will help GGA succeed in this endeavour.
I am sure that the people of Africa will respond to the many challenges ahead and will also make it happen.
Best wishes
Robert Rose
