“What Indigo Has Learned”… Transparency And Accountability

Over the past couple of years Indigo has developed a sizeable portfolio of partner organisations and funded projects that attempt to increase accountability and transparency in Africa by utilising ICT. We have found this to be hard work indeed! Measuring impact and selecting projects that will challenge those in power in a constructive yet meaningful way is difficult. As we have reviewed our work however it has become obvious to us that there are some areas in which our money can make a real difference.

Why Transparency and Accountability?

These are hot topics. We have blogged about the Mo Ibrahim Index African Governance in the past and there are many more initiatives, like the Africa Governance Initiative, all aimed at improving government in Africa. Some of the international statistics highlight the larger trends:

Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2012 ranks the 174 countries of the world against their own citizens’ perception of corruption. There are no African countries in the top 30. Similarly Freedom House’s ‘Freedom in the World 2013′ categorise only ten, out of fifty-four, African states as being fully free.