The Economist Asia - 27.01.2018

The EconomistJanuary 27th 2018 Middle East and Africa 39

1

2 pean Central Bank. Since the introduction

of the euro, income per person in the franc

zone has grown at 1.4% a year, compared

with 2.5% in all of sub-Saharan Africa.

Blaming the currency for slow develop-

ment is “absurd”, says Ismaël Dem, direc-

tor general of economy and currency at the

west African central bank. He argues that

the exchange rate is where it should be and

that countries such as Ivory Coast are

booming. But the franc zone still depends,

as in colonial days, on the export of raw

materials. And the central African coun-

tries, despite sharing a currency, export

more to France than they do to each other.

Calls for reform are becoming louder.

Carlos Lopes, a former executive secretary

of the UNEconomic Commission for Afri-

ca, advocates tying the CFAfranc to a bas-

ket of currencies, such as the dollar and

yuan. Others think the exchange rate

should fluctuate around a target. Radicals

want France out of the currency altogether.

Yet elites do rather well out of the sys-

tem, which makes it easier to send wealth

abroad. And a weaker currency would in-

crease the cost of imported goods. The

only devaluation, in 1994, sparked riots.

The recent history of the central African

zone is telling. A slump in oil prices from

2014 widened fiscal and current-account

deficits, putting pressure on the peg. Re-

servescovered just over two months of im-

ports at the end of 2016. Yet most leaders

signed onto IMF programmes to cut spend-

ing rather than move the exchange rate.

In west Africa, meanwhile, politicians

pay lip service to the idea of a single cur-

rency for all countries in the region. But

that would require small oil importers to

throw in their lot with Nigeria, a huge oil

exporter. Although the CFAfranc is un-

loved, the alternatives are risky. It will sur-

vive for some time yet. 7

Integrity idols

Good clean entertainment

T

HE timing could not have been better.

In the same week as two civil servants

in Nigeria appeared in court for embez-

zling funds earmarked for International

Anti-Corruption Day, the finalists of

“Integrity Idol” were announced. In this

reality television show, honest civil

servants working in corrupt countries

compete for glory, fame and, occasional-

ly, a live chicken. The show is a hit: over

10m people have watched it and more

than 400,000 have cast their votes in

favour of their Integrity Idols.

“Integrity Idol” started in Nepal in

2014 and has since spread to Pakistan,

Mali, Liberia, Nigeria and South Africa.

Five finalists, vetted by a panel of judges,

are chosen to be interviewed. They ex-

plain why they deserve the prize. “I come

to work late. My boss could ask ‘Why are

you late?’ (...) I say I slept a little longer.

Say it the way it is! Face the conse-

quences!” one nominee exhorts.

It is not always easy to find good

contestants. The Nigerian nomination

period was extended because of the poor

quality of entrants. “People were nomi-

nating their auntie because she gave

them money,” says Odeh Friday, who

runs the campaign. Others thought they

qualified because they came to work on

time. One policeman was surprised by

his nomination because, he explained,

he was involved in shady contracts.

Another nominee resigned after he real-

ised that background checks might dig up

old dirt.

“Integrity Idol” claims to steer clear of

politics. Elected officials may not be

nominated. Nor, in some countries, may

people in the army. Even so, the show

delivers a punch in the face to crooked

politicians and their cronies, sometimes

just by itstiming: in Liberia last year, it

aired while presidential elections were

embroiled in fraud investigations.

It is difficult to know what impact the

show is having, though the Massachu-

setts Institute of Technology has begun to

measure it. Change may be gradual.

Gareth Newham at the Institute of Secu-

rity Studies in South Africa thinks its

greatest contribution will be in changing

attitudes. “Too many young people be-

lieve that you can only get a job if you

belong to the [ruling party]. What has

been missing is a focuson the ordinary

people who do good work.”

Can a reality TV show discourage corruption?

L

IFE in Maekelawi, a prison in Addis Aba-

ba, the capital of Ethiopia, had a predict-

able rhythm. Three times a day, Atnaf Ber-

hane and Befekadu Hailu were hauled

from the dank, dark cell they nicknamed

“Siberia” for three hours of interrogation

and beating. Mr Hailu was flogged across

his bare feet with an electric cable. Mr Ber-

hane escaped this particular cruelty. “I was

lucky,” he says.

The two Ethiopian activists, members

of a blogging group known as Zone 9, were

arrested in 2014. After three months in

Maekelawi they were charged with terro-

rism. After 18 months behind bars those

charges were dropped, though both are

still accused of the lesser crime of inciting

violence. Ethio Trial Tracker, a website,

claims that 923 Ethiopians are in prison on

terrorism charges. Human Rights Watch, a

pressure group, counts thousands more

detained for their political opinions.

The ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolu-

tionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has a

habit, always denied, of jailing its political

opponents. So many observers were sur-

prised when, on January 3rd, the govern-

ment announced plans to release some po-

litical prisoners, turn Maekelawi into a

museum and “widen the democratic

space”. On January 17th it freed Merera Gu-

dina, the country’s most prominent oppo-

sition leader, along with 527 other prison-

ers. The attorney-general said more

prisoners would be released in the coming

months, including some of those convict-

ed of terrorist offences. “If the government

means what it says, then it has a chance to

write a new chapter in Ethiopian history,”

says Mr Merera. Since his release thou-

sands have come to see him, some bring-

ing oxen to slaughter in the festivities.

After years of anti-government protests

and a nine-month state of emergency that

was lifted last August, some detect signs of

change inside the EPRDF. For months the

party blamed dissent on “foreign ene-

mies” and local malcontents. But this

month it issued a statement admitting to

“mistakes” and promising more democra-

cy. The anti-terror law is being revised and

other repressive bills may be changed.

Yet one should not read too much into

all this. Most of the prisoners whose cases

were dropped were minor figures. Promi-

nent activists from Oromia and Amhara,

the country’s two most populous regions

and hotbeds of unrest, are still being held.

Any changes made to draconian laws will

Political prisoners in Ethiopia

Setting them free

ADDIS ABABA

The regime flirts with letting dissidents

speak without locking them up

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