African countries acting on sustaining transparency: WB

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ADDIS ABABA, Dec 11 (AFP): The level of transparency in African countries has improved as a result of awareness and more pressure from governance watchdogs, a World Bank official said here yesterday.
"Many African countries are acting on sustaining transparency and accountability and this speaks of progress across the continent," said Anand Rajaram, the World Bank's Manager for Public Sector Reform and Capacity for Africa.
"To make a statement of the overall trend, I would say it is very positive." he told a press conference in the Ethiopian capital.
Between 1999 and 2006, 69 per cent of the world's lower income countries receiving interest-free credit from the Bank improved in handling the public sector, according to the Bank.
"Of those, 30 were African countries and they showed success in managing public finance and revenue administration," said another WB official, Ali Khadr.
Watchdogs such as the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Transparency International and the World Bank itself are putting more pressure on governments by publishing annual reports on corruption.
"In terms of transparency and accountability you have a lot of measurements now," added Rajaram. "All this makes governments much more conscious about the need to be transparent and accountable."
Rajaram singled out Rwanda as having achieved the most progress in the 53-nation continent and noted that African parliaments were much more active in ensuring budget implementation.