Transparency is key to corruption-free infrastructure
By Peter Eigen, founder of Transparency International
The first Regional Roundtable on Infrastructure Governance was held in Cape Town at the beginning of November. Peter Eigen, founder of Transparency International (www.Transparency.org), who addressed the event, reflects on the vital importance of openness and transparency for successful and sustainable infrastructure projects.
Corruption is nothing new and it’s certainly not unique to Africa. When I worked in the World Bank’s East Africa office back in 1991, it was not just common to see multi-national companies in developed countries pay bribes to secure lucrative projects in Africa, Latin America and Asia, this behaviour was often encouraged by governments.
In Germany, for example, a company found guilty of bribing ...