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	Corruption in Africa is ranked second highest after South Asia.
	22% of Africans who have had contact with public services agencies say they have paid a bribe.
	In 2018, the African Union declared the year as a year of fighting corruption across the continent.

Government and Public Services

Recognizing that good governance in the public sector is a critical component toward the pursuit of economic development (i.e political representation, institutional effectiveness, executive effectiveness, human rights and the rule of law, independence of media and civil society organizations, economic management and corruption control) efforts to improve governance have become a major thrust within Africa.

Public service plays a fundamental role in governance in Africa. Strengthening public services in Africa has thus been deemed critical to the continent’s development. When reinforced, good governance and public service facilitate healthy communities, government accountability, constructive and positive citizen engagement, job creation, and lay the framework for development and growth. On the other hand, weak public services result in education gaps, citizen distrust, and a lack of government transparency. Present and future challenges can only be addressed if this pillar of governance is secured across the continent.

African citizen’s satisfaction with the provision of basic public services appears to have diminished over the last decade.

This indicates that governments are not meeting public demand in areas such as health care, education, justice, safety, and security. The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) recognizes progress in overall governance across Africa, and has noted a decline in the provision of core public services. Education, for instance, shows a concerning trajectory.

According to the Afrobarometer, 12.7% of people surveyed in 2014/2015 considered that it was challenging to obtain the services needed from teachers or school officials. With Africa’s population set to double by 2050, efficient public service delivery in this area is vital to the continent’s ability to deal with new challenges in the future.

In 2018, the African Union declared the year as a year of fighting corruption across the continent and transparency has played a big part in governance debates. Transparency and accountability are key challenges that are central to unlocking the potential of public services in Africa.

According to the Ibrahim Index of African Governance, findings show that public sector corruption in Sub-Saharan Africa is the second highest globally, after South Asia. This is a widespread phenomenon with 22% of Africans who have had contact with public services saying they have paid a bribe.

Corruption is both a potential loss of resources and an obstacle to accessing public services. This calls for policies against bribes and money laundering, the benefits of which are already being seen across Africa.

Yet, public services do not work in isolation. The public and private sectors, together with civil society, are increasingly involved in delivering services to citizens. In particular, there is a growing role of local authorities and public-private partnerships in delivering public services. Today, the 20 biggest cities on the continent manage populations larger than many countries. In cities such as Kampala and Johannesburg, a new generation of mayors, supported by teams of young and motivated Africans, are offering examples of modernising public services that engage with cross-sections of society.

In order to ensure that African countries fulfill their mandate as developmental states, there has been a call for them to improve their: regulatory capacity– the ability to establish and enforce rules throughout the society, including the traditional and religious realms; administrative capacity – the ability to manage the personnel and resources of the state and to ensure accountability and efficiency in service delivery; and domestic resource mobilization/ tax collection capacity – to raise the revenues needed by the state to pay for the expenses of implementing state policies and goals, which includes the revenue for hiring, paying, and providing public servants with the resources to work with.

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According to Transparency International’s corruption perception index, Seychelles, Botswana and Cabo Verde are the least corrupt countries in Africa. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Mauritius, South Africa and Tunisia rank first, second, and third respectively among African nations for provision of e-government services.