Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has urged governments across the globe to be more open and accountable amid the coronavirus pandemic.

According to her, many countries are battling corruption in the acquisition of medical supplies including personal protective equipment.

ex-World Bank director stated that governments should “publish all tenders and all contracts” and “companies receiving funds should not be anonymous”.

She stated this in a piece titled, ‘To Beat Covid-19, Governments Need to Open Up’ published on Bloomberg.

Okonjo-Iweala presently serves on the board of Bloomberg Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health.

Ngozi served in two tenures as Nigeria’s finance minister from 2003 to 2006 as well as between 2011 and 2015.

According to her, while serving with President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan’s administrations, she worked hard to open up information and tackle corruption.

Further noting that she saved billions of dollars that were channeled to other priorities.

She wrote, “Getting medical equipment, and eventually vaccines, to those that need them most poses a major governance challenge.

“Already, many countries are battling price gouging, collapsing supply chains and even corruption in the procurement of supplies, including personal protective equipment.

“Out of desperation, governments have contracted with suppliers who have no track record of delivering the equipment they need. Too often those suppliers have failed.

“The only way to make emergency procurement fast and efficient is to do it in the open by publishing all tenders and all contracts.

“This openness should extend to the emergency budgets that have been established to fund healthcare systems and economic stimulus packages.

“Even in normal times, finance ministries need to publish their budgets in a way that encourages accountability and citizen engagement.

“Right now, it is even more important to reassure taxpayers that funds are being spent on the right priorities,” she continued.

“Opening up procurement and budgets can only have the desired effect if citizens and civil society are empowered to follow the money.

“During my tenure as the Nigerian finance minister, we worked hard in a difficult governance environment to open up information and tackle corruption.

“Though it was not easy, we saved billions of dollars that were channelled to other priorities,” she added.