THE African Economic Outlook (AEO), has been launched and it is now in public domain for all nations and citizens on the continent to read, understand and own for the sake of progressive development.
In this write up, NDUBI MVULA looks at the snippet of what the report has under the Political and Economic Governance in Africa.
WHILE employment has been the main concern for Africans over the last decade, demands for better services and infrastructure have been on the rise since 2008, and worries about terrorism and violence are less and less confined to conflict zones.
The severity and geographic scope of politically motivated violence in the form of terrorism or communitarian conflict has been increasing in Africa over the past few years.
Under the special theme, “Sustainable Cities and Structural Transformation”, the AEO states that this has spurred African countries to work together to find regional solutions, but international cooperation is difficult.
It is noted that the African citizenry is increasingly becoming effective at demanding and obtaining improvements in governance.
Success stories include the Nobel-prize winning institutions of Tunisia that managed to create a freer and more democratic society as well as new forms of civil oversight in some countries to give citizens other ways to influence policy beyond voting and protesting.
Key governance challenges in Africa are a growing demand for public services, what with the threats of terrorism and internal conflicts.
Some school of thought define governance as the way different state and non-state actors make public decisions and manage economic and social resources for development.
State entities, political parties, civil society organisations and private sector actors all play a role in the process.
As governance is multi-dimensional, a variety of measures and indicators are considered.
These can be divided into four main areas:
•The provision of public goods and services through good management and optimisation of
financial resources;
•The regulation of economic institutions and the state’s effectiveness in fostering economic
activity;
•The interaction of political institutions with citizens and;
•The construction of trusted institutions capable of strengthening social cohesion.
Citizens’ expectations towards governments and key areas of tensions are the starting point of this chapter.
This section presents the main results of opinion polls and surveys, as well as findings from updates of the African Economic Outlook  civil tension indicators.
Opinion surveys show that citizens demand better economic opportunities, as well as better governance of public institutions.
The main issues stressed by African respondents to polls are better public services, better institutions and better job opportunities.
Other issues of concern are a good education, better healthcare, an honest and responsive government, better job opportunities, access to clean water and sanitation, protection against crime and violence.
Furthermore, the report states that other needs are affordable and nutritious food, better transport and roads, freedom from discrimination and persecution, equality between men and women,
political freedoms, support for people who cannot work, reliable energy at home, protecting forests, rivers and oceans, action taken on climate change, phone and internet access.
According to the Afro-barometer survey conducted in 2014/15 found that the three most important problems that Africans in general want their government to address are unemployment (32.4 per cent), health (29.8 per cent) and education (24 per cent), while rural Africans see better electricity and roads as a first priority.
Employment has been the most pressing issue for African citizens throughout the 2000s, according to Afrobarometer surveys, but demand for better services and infrastructure has been on the rise since
2008.
For instance, results from this survey over the years show that demand for better education, health, electricity, transportation, water supply and sanitation is rising.
However, regarding political institutions, the AEO states that citizens are demanding fairer and more competitive elections.
The report further states that elections are common practice in most African countries, and citizens want them to be more competitive and inclusive.
And that a large proportion of African citizens believe that elections are a good principle for good governance, but a much lower proportion feel that the electoral processes in their countries are honest.
On average, this index of demand for democracy was at 71 per cent in 2012.
In 16 countries, the scores ranged between 74 per cent in Burundi and 90 per cent in Zambia while many West African countries appear in the list of 16 countries.
And citizens surveyed see elections as the best sign of a democratic regime.
Afro-barometer data shows that higher levels of freedom of speech and information are associated with a higher rating of government performance and trust, notably in the fight against corruption.
According to Africans, corruption, seen as the exercise of public power for private gain remains a primary obstacle to the state providing public services and protecting public interest.
It is noted that a lack of checks and balances enables corruption, which results in large financial costs and losses of quality in service delivery.
African countries can improve their service delivery despite the great diversity of policy contexts.
However, a better allocation of international aid can help improve service delivery in low-income countries and fragile states.
Improvements in the business environment require time and must complement structural reforms to bear fruit.