Luis Franceschi to African Leaders: “Good Governance Without Justice Is an Empty Promise”
Story Written by Daniel October 8,2025
Law-Rich, Trust-Poor: Franceschi’s Bold Message to African Leaders at BeDoCare 2025
When Luis Franceschi, Assistant Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, stepped onto the stage at the BeDoCare 2025 Conference in Nairobi, he didn’t begin with statistics or political talk. Instead, he told a story about fried spiders and scorpions he once saw in Bangkok — a metaphor for how Africa keeps trying to cure corruption with new laws instead of justice.
“No matter how much we fry a spider, it remains a spider,” Franceschi said. “And no matter how much chilli you sprinkle on a scorpion, it remains a scorpion.”
Behind the humour was a sharp truth: Africa has become law-rich but trust-poor — a continent where more legislation has not translated into justice, and more policies have not created prosperity.
A Continent Full of Laws, But Empty of Trust
Speaking with disarming candour, the Kenyan-born Franceschi said Africa is drowning in beautifully written constitutions and legal frameworks, yet trust in leaders, parliaments, and courts continues to collapse.
Citing Afrobarometer data, he noted that support for democracy among Africans fell from 73% in 2014 to 66% in 2024, while public confidence in courts and lawmakers keeps plummeting.
“The more laws we pass, the less justice we seem to have,” he warned. “Without justice as the foundation, even the strongest bridges and the best airports will eventually collapse — they are houses built on sand.”
Franceschi argued that African governments have developed a reflex for legislation — creating new committees, agencies, or constitutional reviews each time a scandal erupts, rather than fixing the system’s moral core.
“We keep sealing holes in the wall,” he said, “instead of fixing the foundation.”
The Hidden Cost of Corruption
Franceschi painted a sobering picture of how corruption drains Africa’s potential. The continent loses between $100 billion and $148 billion every year to financial crimes such as trade misinvoicing, contract inflation, and procurement fraud.
“If we used that money well,” he said, “Africa could build 200,000 new schools, 10,000 hospitals, 10,000 kilometres of roads, and still have billions left for refineries and innovation.”
By contrast, Africa received just $36 billion in development aid last year — less than one-quarter of what corruption costs annually.
“Africa is not poor,” he stressed. “It is poorly governed.”
The impact, he said, is visible in classrooms without chairs, hospitals without oxygen, and youth without jobs — all casualties of elite greed.
When Democracy Becomes a Show
Franceschi also criticised the decline of political trust across the continent.
“In at least five African democracies, opposition leaders are in prison,” he said. “We are invited to observe elections where there is only one horse in the race, no matter how different the colours look.”
He described a troubling pattern where elections have become rituals of legitimacy rather than genuine choices. Citizens vote, but the outcome feels predetermined.
Still, Franceschi pointed to Mauritius, Botswana, Ghana, Malawi, and Zambia as examples of hope — nations where leaders have lost elections peacefully, proving that political maturity is possible when trust overrides fear.
“Trust cannot be legislated,” he said. “But without it, no law can save a country.”
The Promise and Limits of Technology
Introducing a new Commonwealth initiative, Franceschi unveiled ‘Avatar Ministers’ — AI-powered digital assistants designed to support leaders in health, finance, and governance decisions.
He said these tools would enable evidence-based policymaking, especially in countries where bureaucracy is slow and expertise limited.
Yet, Franceschi cautioned that no technology can replace moral integrity.
“Even an avatar cannot fix moral failure,” he said. “Technology can assist leadership, but it cannot substitute character.”
He described Africa’s modernization drive as “a double-edged sword” — a race for innovation amid weak ethical foundations.
Africa’s Real Infrastructure: Character
Closing his speech, Franceschi quoted Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, who credited his nation’s rise to meritocracy, pragmatism, and honesty. He urged African leaders to adopt the same principles.
“Leadership requires both competence and character,” he said. “It is not enough to be a skilled professional; you must also be a good human being.”
He concluded that Africa’s greatest challenge is not external interference or lack of wealth — it is a moral crisis from within.
“We cooked the spiders and scorpions ourselves,” he said. “The West may have helped, but we served the meal.”
Franceschi’s final words were both a warning and a call to conscience:
“If Africa wants real change, it must stop mistaking legal motions for moral progress. Good governance without justice, and justice without ethics, are just empty promises.”
