The Assessment of Open Government Progress in African Countries

The Assessment of Open Government Progress in African Countries

This study aims to investigate the level of open government development in African countries and examine to compare the performance of OGP member countries and non-OGP countries in Africa. This study adopts the four variables for making an African government openness index (AGOI): accountability (ACC), citizen participation and freedom (CPF), transparency (TRA), and information and communication technology (ICT). To develop an AGOI, a panel data for 34 countries from the years 2006-2015 was used. The results of the study demonstrate that African countries are improving the level of open government development over the period. AGOI scores have constantly improved, with an annual growth rate of 2.59% for 2006-2015. The scores of ICT and CPF are greatly increasing. ACC remains in the same level over the period in both OGP and non-OGP groups. This study shows performances of OGP countries are a bit better in all values of four variables and AGOI than those of non-OGP countries. This study presents a snapshot of the advancement in open government in African countries and provides insights into specific variables that may be diagnosed to improve further.