The press has continued to wage a governance campaign, especially with respect to anti-corruption matters. Some general remarks The governance debate is a difficult one, not least because of the imprecision of the concept and its multi-dimensionality. This opens room for a range of interpretations and the inclusion of diverse elements, rendering the basis of discussion somewhat fragile. There is also a measure of ambivalence regarding its practical application and suspicion in some case of the motives underlying the significance attached to it by the donor community. Its link with poverty reduction is not uncontested, and questions also arise as to whether it is not really the Washington Consensus and structural adjustment in new clothing. In the African context, there is admission of mis-governance in many areas of state management. In particular, corruption and impunity in public administration, conduct of elections, financial management and judicial processes, are bemoaned on a wide scale. Serious observers agree that there is a need to correct the institutional arrangements that create an avenue for some of the negatives observed in the governance of many countries. This admission notwithstanding, questions continue to be raised as to whether the range of measures subsumed in the governance package is appropriate to correcting these deficiencies. The emphasis, it is believed in some quarters, should be on capacity building and helping countries to pursue home-grown development programmes. While admittedly there is a capacity building element in the governance package, the relevance of some specifics is brought into question.

As the major development finance institution in the world, and a dominant influence in thinking on  BIS Review 109/2007  3  economic development, its ideas soon permeated not only the international financial institutions (IFIs) but the aid community generally. The precise link forged between good governance and economic development is the raison d’etre of the central place accorded good governance in current international development discourse. Various formulations of this relationship have been propounded. Doorknobs for instance justify good governance, namely the fight against corruption, nepotism, bureaucracy and mismanagement, and the promotion of transparency, accountability and proper procedures, as ensuring the effective utilisation of aid for the achievement of poverty reduction. Other writers variously state that good governance is a pre-requisite for sustainable development in Africa. They stress the importance for growth and development of a predictable regulatory framework, efficiency and transparency in public administration and an independent judiciary. Others remark on the pressures arising from globalisation and the competition for aid and investment as major driving forces for good governance; and the comparative attractiveness to investors of a corrupt-free country, with sound policies and well-managed administrative and judicial systems. The link between good governance and development is however not universally accepted and its implications are not always viewed positively. It has been argued that the link between governance and poverty reduction is at best tenuous. While in some areas empirical evidence tends to suggest that good governance leads to positive growth outcomes, other evidence suggests that this may not be so.