Political Finance Transparency in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean: Insights from the Global Data Barometer

This analysis of the Global Data Barometer political integrity thematic cluster was compiled by Jorge Valladares, Political Integrity, Lead at Transparency International.

Access to information about who funds politics is key to building public trust and deterring corruption. The latest Global Data Barometer shows uneven progress, with strides in Latin America and transparency gaps across Africa.

Any valuable information we can have about officials making decisions on our behalf has the potential to build public trust. The more we know about how our leaders finance their election campaigns, manage their conflicting interests, or consult business interests while making decisions, the more worthy of our trust they become.

Opacity not only breeds distrust but also corruption. Behind closed doors, financiers or lobbyists are unconstrained in offering and trading favours with politicians. We need as much information as open as possible about them to keep them honest at all times. Transparent money flows into politics to help keep politics clean. Transparency deters vested interests from unduly influencing legislation or public spending. The second edition of the Global Data Barometer (GDB) shows uneven levels of transparency across both sides of the (Southern) Atlantic. 

Progress and Pitfalls in Latin America and the Caribbean

Citizens in 16 of the 21 Latin American and the Caribbean countries surveyed in this edition have online access to political finance information. Although the level of detail of such online information varies from country to country, it is encouraging to see that voters have the means to hold politicians to account in most of the region. Yet, online availability remains an issue in the Anglophone Caribbean, where only Jamaicans can access some information online, even if only to aggregate the income of parliamentary candidates (detailed financial returns can only be inspected on site).

Latin America and the Caribbean are coming closer to meeting open data principles, but more work remains to be done. Only Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay meet the higher standard of making political finance information available in machine-readable formats. 

Transparency Challenges Across Africa

Across the Atlantic, and except for South Africans and Moroccans, most Africans in the 22 countries surveyed in this edition remain unbeknownst of whose money enters election campaigns and politics. Political parties, candidates or oversight agencies in 12 countries fail to comply with existing rules, as already noted in the first edition. Worse still, in eight other countries, the legal framework is not even in place. 

Glimmer of hope and the road ahead

Researchers from the GDB have recorded a few gleams of hope for political finance transparency in Africa. These include advocates’ attempts to bring information to light through legal challenges (as in Malawi), independent monitoring initiatives (such as in Ghana), and proactive oversight by institutions like Burkina Faso’s Cour des Comptes, which imposes sanctions on infringing political parties and presidential candidates.

A total of 48 African states are bound to adopt measures to incorporate the practice of transparency into political finance as they have signed the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combatting Corruption and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. Political parties, legislators and oversight officials in Africa must take a hard look in the GDB mirror and give citizens what they deserve: clarity about political financing.

Transparency in political finance is not a luxury – it is a democratic necessity. As the GDB’s latest findings reveal, access to clear, timely and usable information about who funds politics remains uneven across regions. While some countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are making notable strides, many African countries due to weak legal frameworks and limited enforcement.

But change is possible. Whether through legal action, civic advocacy, or the diligence of oversight institutions, there are growing examples of how accountability can take root. For citizens to trust the decisions made in their name, they must be able to track political financing. Political finance transparency isn’t just about data, it’s about power, integrity, and the public’s right to know.

The author compiled this analysis of the Global Data Barometer political integrity thematic cluster.