World Bank

• Instead, he is forcing his own people to pay a heavy price for his government's reckless actions each day.
• He has drained Russia's resources to fund an unnecessary war, torn Russian families apart, and claimed hundreds of thousands of Russian lives.
• We are stepping up our security assistance to Ukraine and are increasing our production and delivery capabilities, to assist the country.
• We praise Ukraine's achievements to date and welcome the European Council's decision last December to open accession negotiations with Ukraine.

• WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MPOWER Financing ("MPOWER"), a mission-driven fintech firm and the leading provider of non-cosigned loans to promising students from around the world, today announced the appointment of Jatin Rajput as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
• MPOWER initially retained a search firm to find the best lend-tech CFO on the planet.
• "Jatin is already well-versed in MPOWER's business and brings a proven track record across financial services, technology, and social impact; we are thrilled to welcome him to our executive team.
• His deep experience in international financial services, technology, and impact investing will be a vital asset as MPOWER rapidly expands globally.

• But she was also talking about the country’s international reputation for being clean, green, safe and honest.
• But recent rankings measuring the country’s international influence, transparency and corruption have started to tell a different story.
• Between 2021 and 2023, New Zealand dropped ten places – from 16 to 26 – on the Global Soft Power Index.

Brand New Zealand

• According to the 2023 Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brand Index, New Zealand is the 14th most valuable country brand in the world, valued at close to half a trillion New Zealand dollars in 2022 by brand valuation and strategy company Brand Finance.
• Brand New Zealand is a precious commodity in its own right, which has taken many decades to build.
• Since 2014, New Zealand has dropped six points in its CPI score, three times more than Denmark or Finland.

Perceptions matter

• A higher CPI score implies a lower level of perceived corruption.
• Read more:
  Return of the ‘consultocracy’ – how cutting public service jobs to save costs usually backfires

  But its two-point CPI slide from 87 to 85 is driven by perceptions among business leaders, as captured by the most recent World Economic Forum’s executive opinion survey taken in August 2023.

• CEO of Transparency International New Zealand, Julie Haggie, attributes the 2023 drop in business leaders’ confidence to three specific factors:

several high-profile cases of COVID-19 subsidy fraud and tax evasion by businesses
the government’s insufficient response to a rise in scamming, as well as a lack of transparency around government spending on outside consultation contracts and infrastructure projects
and a heightened focus on appropriate spending of public funds during a cost-of-living crisis when most New Zealanders are doing it tough.

Trust in government

• But it must still be mindful of the fragility of general trust in public institutions and the government.
• Damaging that trust can have unintended consequences for our international reputation.
• Cutting public spending by between 6.5% and 7.5%, as government agencies have been told to do, may be viewed positively by business leaders.
• But it can also erode public trust in government.

Turning the trend around

• While it placed 14th in the latest Transparency International ranking (with a CPI score of 75), Australia has gained two points under the Albanese Labor government.
• State capture by vested interest groups is a form of public corruption and would likely significantly affect New Zealand’s declining CPI score.

Matevz (Matt) Raskovic does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Numerous opinion polls suggest the ANC will fall below 50% of the vote nationally for the first time, providing opportunities for opposition coalitions.
• A party needs to win 50% or more of the seats in parliament to form a government on its own.
• Adding to the moment was the fact that this was the last state of the nation address of Ramaphosa’s term.
• In his 105-minute address Ramaphosa tried to remind his audience of the government’s achievements over the past three decades of democracy.

The contested record

• Poverty: In 1994 71% of South Africa’s population lived in poverty; today 55% do, he said, citing World Bank figures.
• Employment: The president devoted paragraphs of his speech to job opportunities created by various government programmes.
• Real unemployment – the expanded definition – is around 42%, up from 15% in 1994.
• Energy: On the continuing power cuts Ramaphosa pledged that
  the worst is behind us and an end to load-shedding is in reach.
• But evidence shows land reform has a mixed record of successes and failures.
• Health: the president spoke of a new academic hospital under construction in Limpopo province.

What was left unsaid

• In one ill-advised one in 2019, the president fantasised about bullet trains, when his audience were desperately waiting for the resumption of service on slow train commuting routes.
• The 2024 speech offers fertile material for opposition parties to score points against the ANC.
• It will be more of the same from both sides all the way to voting day.

Keith Gottschalk is a member of the African National Congress, but writes this piece in his professional capacity as a political scientist.