The Programmes Manager of the Ghana Integrity Initiative has stressed the need for integrity in business as a means to shore up a country’s anti-corruption rating internationally.

Speaking to Joy FM on Wednesday, Mary Awelana Addah, said the integrity in business ensures fairness as it “creates an atmosphere where all people compete fairly.”

More than that, she added that businesses with integrity are guaranteed slots on the international arena, where businesses are competitive and sanctions swiftly applied to companies defaulting on integrity.

Mrs. Addah further held that integrity in business also affects the ratings of the country they operate from in the World Bank’s Corruption Perception Index.

The 2018 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score shows that Ghana’s performance improved by one point from its 2017 score of 40.

“This score is a positive departure from the continuous drop the country has been experiencing since the year 2015,” a release by the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) stated.

The 2018 CPI scores Ghana 41 out of 100 and ranks the country 78 out of 180 countries included in the index.

This trickles down to how investors judge the country as a preferred destination for doing business or otherwise, as it is expensive doing business in a corruption-prone environment.

Suggesting a way forward, the Programmes Manager of the Ghana Integrity Initiative said: “People must have a responsibility to report corruption.”

But most importantly “incentivizing people who do well in upholding integrity is the best approach to fighting corruption.”