"Botswana continues to set the example for other countries on the continent, particularly as control of corruption, economic and political stability are measured," said Lead Operations Officer for the World Bank in Botswana, Dirk Reinermann, commending the country.

"It is a mature democracy with deeply-rooted standards of good governance," Reinermann said. Since independence, the country has transformed from one of the poorest African nations with a US$80 per capita income to an upper middle-income country today with US$6000 per capita. The report also says that although the remarkable growth has been largely driven by the diamond industry, which rakes in over P20 billion per annum in exports, democratic governance and political and macroeconomic stability have also helped.

The WGI shows many developing country governments making important gains in control of corruption, and some of them matching rich country performance in overall governance measures.

"Some countries are making rapid progress in governance, including in Africa, showing that a measure of 'Afro-optimism' is called for," said Daniel Kaufmann, co-author of the report and Director of Governance at the World Bank Institute. Kaufmann acknowledged that the data also shows large variations in performance across countries, and even among neighbours within each continent.

"Progress reflects reforms in those countries where political leaders, policymakers, civil society and the private sector view good governance and corruption control as crucial for sustained and shared growth," he said.

Good governance can be found at all income levels, with some emerging economies matching the performance of rich countries on key dimensions of governance. Over a dozen emerging countries, including Botswana, Slovenia, Chile, Estonia, Uruguay, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Mauritius, and Costa Rica, score higher on key dimensions of governance than industrialised countries such as Greece or Italy.

Better governance helps in the fight against poverty and improves living standards.

Research over the past decade shows that improved governance raises development, though development has not been shown to improve governance.

The Indicators suggest that where there is commitment to reform, improvements in governance can and do occur. Over the past decade from 1998 to 2007, countries in all regions have shown substantial improvements in governance, even if at times starting from a very low level.

Good governance has also been found to significantly enhance the effectiveness of development assistance, in general, and of World Bank-funded projects in particular.

But despite governance gains in some countries, overall quality of governance around the world has not improved much over the past decade. Coinciding with countries that have done well, a similar number have experienced deteriorations in several governance dimensions, including Zimbabwe, Cote D'Ivoire, Belarus, Eritrea and Venezuela.  In many other countries, no significant change in either direction is yet apparent in recent years.

Although Botswana is said to be doing well in terms of governance matters, the country has slid down the global competitiveness rankings pulled down by less than satisfactory improvements in factors such as health, primary education, innovation and market size, according to a World Economic Forum report released last year.

The report showed that Botswana has slipped down the ranks to position 76 from 72 last year from a total sample of 131 countries with regional countries such as Mauritius and South Africa ahead.