Governments are spending trillions of dollars on COVID-19 response. By necessity, that spending is happening rapidly — yet often there is little or no oversight, increasing the risk that money is stolen or mismanaged and that additional lives are lost or ruined.
Strong oversight and monitoring of emergency funds can help save lives. It can root out corruption and fraud, helping to ensure that money reaches its intended purpose. It enables markets to function effectively, potentially driving down prices, and helps identify price gouging. In the long term, it can build citizen trust and strengthen systems and institutions to prepare for and protect against future crises.
Concerns about the misuse of COVID-19 funds are acute given pre-pandemic realities: even in normal times, few African governments are sufficiently open about how money is allocated and spent, and financial secrecy in other parts of the world enable the criminal and corrupt to hide and spend illicit money.
We dive into the data in this visual story exploring the importance of transparency and accountability of COVID-19 emergency funds in Africa and what governments can do to ensure money is managed effectively.
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