Transparency International Australia (TIA) is pleased to announce the launch of a new UK-funded project that will facilitate the scale up of our accountable infrastructure programme into new countries in Asia and Africa. This initiative aims at supporting national civil society awareness raising campaigns and advocacy at the national level for increased accountability of infrastructure investment decisions.
Infrastructure is central to development—connecting communities to schools, health services, and markets, and building resilience to climate change. But too often, poor investment decisions, opaque processes, and corruption risks mean that infrastructure projects fail to deliver value for money. In some cases, governments are left burdened with unsustainable debt, while communities face the consequences of wasted resources, “white elephant” projects, and missed opportunities for vital services.
As global infrastructure investment grows, the need for stronger safeguards, citizen oversight, and transparent decision-making is greater than ever.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
This new project, funded by the UK Government, will empower Transparency International (TI) Chapters and civil society in up to five countries—including Kenya, Zambia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Indonesia—to develop evidence of corruption risks during project selection phase of infrastructure investment, raise awareness and hold governments accountable to ensure sound infrastructure investment decisions are made.
The project’s goals are to:
strengthen civil society networks working on infrastructure accountability,
improve government processes for selecting and managing public investment in infrastructure,
enable communities to demand accountability for how infrastructure projects are chosen and delivered.
Read more about each country’s infrastructure governance challenges, plans for engagement and importance of the ICRAT below:
- Sri Lanka
- Pakistan
- Zambia
- Kenya
- Indonesia: TI Indonesia has been utilising the ICRAT since 2022 to assess the corruption risks of the case study projects below. These case studies have been developed from TI Indonesia’s detailed ICRAT report, Corruption Risk Assessment of Infrastructure Projects in Indonesia, published in 2023.
TOOLS AND METHODS: TRIED, TESTED, AND ADAPTABLE
A central part of the project will be the use of TI Australia’s Infrastructure Corruption Risk Assessment Tool (ICRAT). This tool helps identify corruption risks during the selection of infrastructure projects – when decisions are being made about what type of projects are needed.
Participating TI chapters will also learn from TI Australia’s Pacific Infrastructure Report which analyses the policy frameworks for infrastructure project preparation in seven Pacific Islands countries and Timor-Leste. By learning from past projects and comparing the various approaches, implementing chapters will be able to select and adapt methods most relevant to their national contexts and build a strong evidence base for advocacy.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Over the next eight months, project activities will include:
A workshop, where chapters will converge to learn how to conduct the infrastructure corruption risk assessments and prepare to apply them in their own countries.
Conducting national-level assessments of infrastructure decision-making, identifying corruption risks and areas for reform.
Public awareness campaigns, community engagement activities, and advocacy efforts to push for more transparent and accountable infrastructure governance.
Research reports, case studies, and campaign materials published through a central project website hosted by TIA.
LOOKING AHEAD
By strengthening transparency, accountability, and participation in infrastructure governance, this project will help ensure that infrastructure investments deliver real benefits to communities, rather than risk causing resource wastage and debt distress.
As the project unfolds, TI Australia will share findings, stories, and updates on our website and through partner channels. Together with our UK partners and TI colleagues around the world, we are committed to making infrastructure work for the people it is meant to serve.