Complete Book PDF (4.12MB) - World Bank eLibrary

282 Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia
2. The 2009 Ethiopia Country Profile on the Business Anti-Corruption Portal
(www.business-anti-corruption.com) states, “The spread of corruption in the
country has been noted by the African Development Bank 2003, which cites
the customs service, land distribution, public housing, and utilities as areas
characterised by institutionalised corrupt practices.”
3. Phase 1, undertaken in mid-2008, resulted in grouping both the perceived
risks and the related solutions under the interrelated categories of accountability,
capacity, and trust. It also identified issues, including an apparent lack
of genuine competition in the market, that warranted further study. Phase 2,
undertaken in mid-2009, looked more specifically at two such areas, both
road-related: international contracting, where Chinese contractors have come
to play a dominant role, and rural roads managed by the regional road authorities
(RRAs). In both cases, concerns had been raised because of recent
marked increase in construction costs.
4. Twenty-six completed surveys were received in 2008 and another 24 in
2009.
5. For more information about the Global Infrastructure Anti-Corruption
Centre, see www.giaccentre.org.
6. Although the reported occurrences were considered plausible by other
stakeholders when discussed in a workshop setting, they are not necessarily
indicative of the sector as a whole and should not be construed as describing
common practices.
7. In one workshop, an experienced international contractor went so far as to
describe working in Ethiopia as “a paradise compared with the corruption in
other countries in Africa.”
8. CoST is an international multistakeholder initiative to increase transparency
and facilitate accountability in the construction sector through the public
disclosure of information about the purpose, nature, timing, and cost of construction
projects. Initiated by the U.K.’s Department for International
Development and supported by the World Bank, the pilot phase started in
2008 in seven countries: Ethiopia, Malawi, the Philippines, Tanzania, the
United Kingdom, Vietnam, and Zambia. For more information, see www
.constructiontransparency.org.
9. The cost data in this section are derived from data provided by ERA to the
World Bank and referred to in World Bank 2009.
10. The “Going Out” strategy refers to the Chinese government’s encouragement
of foreign investment by Chinese enterprises.
11. Approaches by e-mail and telephone, both through intermediaries and in
person to the office in Addis Ababa, finally resulted in a recommendation,
also acted upon, to contact the government in Beijing.