Global Integrity is proud to announce the formal launch of Foglamp, an initiative we have been working on for a number of years to provide real-time research and insights to the investment community on corruption and governance issues in countries around the world.
Historically, Global Integrity’s work (like most non-governmental organizations) was aimed at governments, civil society organizations, the media, and academia. While we’ve enjoyed tremendous success in reaching those key audiences, we’ve essentially ignored the 800-pound elephant in the room: the private sector and international investment community. Foglamp is our attempt to reach them directly.
As I wrote to the Global Integrity expert network this past summer:
Despite [Global Integrity’s] success, we have historically done little research or reporting on private sector corruption and governance issues. As we all know, private capital flows are increasingly important, especially to developing nations – many would argue they are now far more important to economic development than official development aid.
Those private capital and investment flows are also increasingly important to governments around the world, which hope to attract foreign investment by advertising how their countries offer functioning markets grounded in the rule of law. Those flows can, in my mind, serve as incredibly powerful incentives for governments to reform. As one of my colleagues describes it, many governments no longer care about a plane full of World Bank or IMF staff arriving at an airport. They care much more about the plane carrying investment bankers. I want to work together to influence those decision-makers so that governments have a greater incentive to respond to calls for reform.
This new initiative is based on a simple idea — we want to make an impact on private investment flows around the world, alerting investors to countries and markets where governance and corruption risks are greater than expected as well as helping to steer investments towards undervalued opportunities. If we can help shift those capital flows by even one-tenth of one percent in just one market or region, the impact could be tremendous.
You can read much more about Foglamp projects and research on the Foglamp website, and if you’re interested in working with us on future Foglamp projects, please visit the site’s Work With Us page to fill out a simple online application form.
Your thoughts and suggestions on this new venture are welcome and valued.
— Nathaniel Heller
