Speaking during the just concluded Africa Growth Opportunity Act Forum in Kenya, the East African Business Council Executive Director, Mr Charles Mbogori, said e-government builds accountability by eliminating gate keepers and standardising service delivery.
"Publishing government information online makes it possible to track decisions and actions and thus serve as an additional deterrent to corruption," he said.
According to the 2008 EABC Business Climate Index survey, more than 35 per cent of business leaders indicated that corruption at customs is a major obstacle to doing business in the region.
While each individual bribe is low, the average is rated at $1.9 (Shs3,990), aggregated for all trucks and when it accumulates, annualised amounts to bribes to customs comes to $2 million (Shs4.2 billion).
The World Bank estimates that $1 trillion (Shs2, 100 trillion) is paid in bribes each year.
"Corruption has a negative effect on a country's ability to compete in international trade. Smaller companies tend to suffer more as bribe payments will constitute a larger proportion of their revenue, leaving them unable to compete with bigger companies where large bribes are required to secure a contract," Mr Mbogori said.
The International Monetary Fund estimates that corruption reduces investment by around 5 per cent. The African Union estimated in 2006 that $148 billion (Shs310.8 trillion) a year leaves the continent because of corruption, which represents a quarter of the continent's GDP.
"Recurrent corruption payments will also increase business costs and therefore reduce profitability," Mr Mbogori said.
It is therefore necessary to encourage corporate governance amongst the business community, by having in place codes of conduct that companies must adhere to.
EABC is in the process of preparing a Code of Conduct for its membership dubbed Business Action Against Corruption (BAAC), which is a private public initiative to tackle corruption.
Transparency International indicated in its public opinion survey, the 2009 Global Corruption Barometer that most respondents stated they would be willing to pay a premium to buy products from companies certified as corruption-free.
"This clearly shows that there is a lot that businesses can do to enhance the fight and there could be room for rewarding companies that are corruption free," he said.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Ismail Musa Ladu
Quelle/Source: AllAfrica, 13.08.2009
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