Saturday 9 December 2023 was International Anti-Corruption Day 2023. In this video we identify shortfalls in Africa in the application of section 9(2) of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption which seeks to promote transparency and accountability in the management of public finances. We use country assessments of fiscal transparency published by the U.S. State Department in their 2023 fiscal transparency report to demonstrate the proportion of countries in each of the three fiscal transparency performance categories used in our analysis. We identify the mix of improvements in fiscal transparency recommended by the U.S. State Department. We then examine whether African countries’ fiscal transparency and CPI 2022 scores are correlated and find there is a moderate overall correlation and a significant correlation in a set of 35 countries. African subregional analyses of fiscal transparency and CPI 2022 scores are also provided. Additional support to countries’ anti-corruption activity can be provided by fiscal transparency improvements.

1. International Anti-Corruption Day 2023:
Shortfalls in CAC transparency and
accountability obligations
Prepared by John Leonardo, PFMConnect, December 2023

2. Introduction
• International Anti-Corruption Day 2023 is being held on 9 December 2023
• For this year’s event, UNODC, the sponsor of International Anti-Corruption
Day, UNCAC at 20: Uniting the World Against Corruption, plans to celebrate the 20th
anniversary of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and the
improvements brought about by the collective efforts supported by the Convention.
• This presentation reviews the current level of implementation of Article 9(2) of the
Convention Against Corruption which sets out the measures to be implemented to
“promote transparency and accountability in the management of public finances”.

3. Article 9(2) of the Convention Against Corruption
• Article 9(2) of the Convention Against Corruption says: “2. Each State Party shall, in
accordance with the fundamental principles of its legal system, take appropriate
measures to promote transparency and accountability in the management of public
finances. Such measures shall encompass, inter alia:
• (a) Procedures for the adoption of the national budget;
• (b) Timely reporting on revenue and expenditure;
• (c) A system of accounting and auditing standards and related oversight;
• (d) Effective and efficient systems of risk management and internal control;
• and (e) Where appropriate, corrective action in the case of failure to comply with the
requirements established in this paragraph.

4. Assessing progress in the promotion of
transparency and accountability in the
management of African public finances
• The U.S. State Department’s 2023 fiscal transparency report has been used as a
benchmark for assessing the recent standard of transparency and accountability in
the management of African public finances.
• The 2023 fiscal transparency report covered activity in the 2022 calendar year and
included fiscal transparency assessments for 53 African countries (Eritrea was not
assessed).

5. U.S. State Department’s 2023 fiscal transparency
report assessment methodology
• The Department’s fiscal transparency review process assesses whether governments
meet minimum requirements of fiscal transparency. The following actions were
evaluated:
• whether the government publicly disclosed key budget documents, including expenditures broken
down by ministry and revenues broken down by source and type
• whether the government had a supreme audit institution that meets international standards of
independence and audits the government’s annual financial statements, and whether such audits
are made publicly available.
• whether the process for awarding licenses and contracts for natural resource extraction is outlined
in law or regulation and followed in practice, and whether basic information on such awards is
publicly available.

6. U.S. State Department’s 2023 fiscal transparency
report: Rating and scoring methodology
• Country fiscal transparency
assessments were rated on the
following basis:
• Were the minimum requirements of
fiscal transparency met?
• Countries that did not meet the
minimum requirements were then
assessed on the rate of progress achieved
in meeting these requirements in terms
of either achieving significant progress
alternatively achieving no progress.
• We have applied the following
numerical scoring system to the
country fiscal transparency
assessments:
• Minimum requirements of fiscal
transparency met: 3
• Minimum requirements not met –
significant progress: 2
• Minimum requirements not met – no
significant progress: 1

7. U.S. Fiscal transparency 2023: Africa results
(53 countries)
Result Countries % population Population
% internet
users
Internet users
Met minimum requirements 14 33.33% 460,481,650 48.28% 289,997,775
Didn't meet minimum
requirements - significant
progress
13 30.14% 416,495,695 21.06% 126,468,613
Didn't meet minimum
requirements - no progress
26 36.27% 501,088,078 30.62% 183,909,208
Countries not rated 1 0.26% 3,626,986 0.04% 248,199
Total 54 100.00% 1,381,692,409 100.00% 600,623,795

8. U.S. Fiscal transparency 2023: Africa results
(53 countries)
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Met minimum requirements Didn't meet minimum requirements -
significant progress
Didn't meet minimum requirements - no
progress
Countries not rated
US Fiscal transparency 2023: Africa results (53 countries)
Country % Population % Internet users %

9. Improvement areas suggested by U.S. State
Department
U.S. State Department recommended improvements
Budget 56.48%
Audit 24.35%
Natural resources extraction 15.03%
Sovereign wealth funds 4.14%

10. U.S. Fiscal transparency 2023: Africa results and
corruption levels (53 countries)
Result Score
Group average
2022 CPI* score
Met minimum requirements 3 41.79
Didn't meet minimum requirements - significant progress 2 27.00
Didn't meet minimum requirements - no progress 1 31.23
Average African country 1.77 33.06
*CPI: Corruption Perceptions Index

11. U.S. Fiscal transparency 2023 results: African
countries meeting minimum requirements
60
42
60
37
43
32
50
38
49
24
70
30
40
26
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Botswana Burkina
Faso
Cabo
Verde
Côte
d'Ivoire
Ghana Kenya Mauritius Morocco Namibia Nigeria Seychelles Togo Tunisia Uganda
African countries meeting minimum fiscal transparency requirements (and CPI
2022 scores)
Fiscal transparency 2023 CPI Score 2022

12. U.S. Fiscal transparency 2023 results: African
countries not meeting minimum requirements –
significant progress
33
19 19 20
38
25
21
26
43
34
12
38
23
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Algeria Chad Comoros Democratic
Republic of the
Congo
Ethiopia Guinea Guinea-Bissau Liberia Senegal Sierra Leone Somalia Tanzania Zimbabwe
African countries not meeting minimum fiscal transparency requirements but
making significant progress (and CPI 2022 scores)
Fiscal transparency 2023 CPI Score 2022

13. U.S. Fiscal transparency 2023 results: African
countries not meeting minimum requirements –
no progress
33
43
17
26 24
30 30
17
30 29
34
37
17
26
34
28 30
26
32
21
51
45 43
13
22 23
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
African countries not meeting minimum fiscal transparency requirements but
making no progress (and CPI 2022 scores)
Fiscal transparency 2023 CPI Score 2022

14. U.S. Fiscal transparency 2023 results: Are African
countries’ fiscal transparency and CPI 2022
scores correlated?
• A moderate Pearson correlation value of 0.419 is obtained from the fiscal
transparency and CPI 2022 scores for the 53 African countries studied here
BUT
• When 18 outlier countries are removed from the group of 53 countries, a very
significant Pearson correlation value of 0.809 is obtained for the smaller group of
35 countries representing 54.23% of Africa’s population
• The data supports the argument that fiscal transparency and corruption levels
can be correlated and correlated quite strongly on occasions
• Charts for the two above-mentioned country groups follow

15. U.S. Fiscal transparency 2023 results: Fiscal
transparency and CPI 2022 scores for 53 countries
33 33
43
60
42
17
60
26 24
19 19
37
20
30 30
17
22
38
29
34
43
25
21
32
37
26
17
26
34
28 30
50
38
26
49
32
24 21
51
45 43
70
34
12
43
13
22
38
30
40
26
33
23
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Algeria
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina
Faso
Burundi
Cabo
Verde
Cameroon
Central
African
Republic
Chad
Comoros
Côte
d'Ivoire
Democratic
Republic
of…
Djibouti
Egypt
Equatorial
Guinea
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Republic
of
the
Congo
Rwanda
Sao
Tome
and
Principe
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra
Leone
Somalia
South
Africa
South
Sudan
Sudan
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Fiscal transparency and corruption in Africa: Fiscal transparency 2023 scores
and CPI 2022 scores for 53 countries where scores have a moderate Pearson
correlation
CPI score 2022 Fiscal transparency 2023

16. U.S. Fiscal transparency 2023 results: Fiscal
transparency and CPI 2022 scores for 35 countries
33 33
60
42
17
60
26 24
30 30
17
22
38
29
43
25 26
17
26 28 30
50
26
49
32
21
43
70
34
13
22
38 40
33
23
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Fiscal transparency and corruption in Africa: Fiscal transparency 2023 scores
and CPI 2022 scores for 35 countries where scores have a very significant
Pearson correlation
CPI score 2022 Fiscal transparency 2023

17. U.S. Fiscal transparency 2023: Africa fiscal
transparency regional results (53 countries)
• Charts showing fiscal transparency 2023 results and Corruption Perception Index
2022 scores across African regions follow

18. Central Africa: Fiscal transparency 2023 and
CPI 2022 scores
19
26 26
19
21 20
35
26
42
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Burundi Cameroon Central African
Republic
Chad Democratic
Republic of the
Congo
Equatorial
Guinea
Gabon Republic of the
Congo
Sao Tome and
Principe
Central Africa: Fiscal transparency 2023 and CPI 2022 scores
Fiscal Transparency 2023 CPI Score 2022

19. East Africa: Fiscal transparency 2023 and
CPI 2022 scores
19
30
38
29
32
26
50 51
70
12 13
22
38
26
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
East Africa: Fiscal transparency 2023 and CPI 2022 scores
Fiscal Transparency 2023 CPI score 2022

20. North Africa: Fiscal transparency 2023 and
CPI 2022 scores
33
30
17
30
38
40
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Algeria Egypt Libya Mauritania Morocco Tunisia
North Africa: Fiscal transparency 2023 and CPI 2022 scores
Fiscal Transparency 2023 CPI score 2022

21. Southern Africa: Fiscal transparency 2023 and
CPI 2022 scores
33
60
22
37
34
26
49
43
33
23
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Angola Botswana Eswatini Lesotho Malawi Mozambique Namibia South Africa Zambia Zimbabwe
Southern Africa: Fiscal transparency 2023 and CPI 2022 scores
Fiscal Transparency 2023 CPI score 2022

22. West Africa: Fiscal transparency 2023 and
CPI 2022 scores
43 42
60
37
34
43
25
21
26 28
32
24
43
34
30
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
West Africa: Fiscal transparency 2023 and CPI 2022 scores
Fiscal Transparency 2023 CPI score 2022

23. Conclusion
• More than 66% of Africa’s population live in countries where minimum fiscal
transparency standards are not met.
• In addition, 54% Africa’s population live in countries where there is a significant
correlation between fiscal transparency standards and corruption.
• Shortfalls in fiscal transparency, particularly in budget documents, are
constraining citizens’ abilities to monitor government budgets
• Improving fiscal transparency performance is an important pre-requisite to
making a meaningful reduction in corruption in Africa

24. About us
• PFMConnect is a consultancy providing online support in the fields of
public finance and digital communication
• You can access our published material discussing corruption and PFM
topics on our blog, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube pages
• Contact us at team@pfmconnect.com if you have any questions