{"id":727,"date":"2014-12-17T13:00:04","date_gmt":"2014-12-17T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/africa\/?p=727"},"modified":"2016-10-28T13:24:28","modified_gmt":"2016-10-28T12:24:28","slug":"smart-citizens-for-smart-cities-and-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/africa\/2014\/12\/17\/smart-citizens-for-smart-cities-and-countries\/","title":{"rendered":"Smart citizens for smart cities and countries"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my post of last week<\/a> on urbanization and smart cities,<\/a> I quoted my colleague at IESE Business School<\/a> Prof. Ricart: \u201cin order to have smarter cities, we need smarter citizens.\u201d<\/strong> \u00a0I read in the newspaper about a Nigerian immigrant who found an envelope containing more than \u20ac16,000 in cash and cash-equivalents, and handed it in to the police.<\/strong> I found this refreshing, as there is so much news about corruption, starting with my own country. I think it’s an example of smart and ethical citizenship.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Efforst<\/a>
Efforts are made to stop corrupt practices<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And there is some uplifting news at the country level<\/strong>, as well. \u00a0Recently, Transparency International <\/a>published the Corruption Perceptions Index 2014.<\/strong><\/a> The index is based\u00a0 on how corrupt the public sector of a country is perceived to be by country analysts and business people. It includes 175 countries, and it ranges from 0\u00a0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). Only 54 (roughly 30%) of the countries score above 50. The good news is that 4 African countries are included in this top group:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Country<\/td>\nRank<\/td>\nScore<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Botswana<\/td>\n31<\/td>\n63<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cape Verde<\/td>\n42<\/td>\n57<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Seychelles<\/td>\n43<\/td>\n55<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mauritius<\/td>\n47<\/td>\n54<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

As usual, let me give you some reference points:<\/strong><\/p>\n