A regional meeting bringing together experts to explore the best possible ways to combat corruption on the African continent, have hailed Rwanda’s policies against graft.Prof. Said Adejumobi, Officer in Charge Public Administration Division GPAD at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), urged African countries still engaging in corruption scandals to emulate Rwanda’s anti-graft efforts. "Rwanda serves as the best example due the country’s interlinked good governance policies and strong anti-graft strategies,” he added.The two-day forum, in Kigali, says all stakeholders need to be strategically drafted in intervention programmes.Dr. Edward G. Hoseah, the Director General, Tanzania Prevention and Combating Corruption Bureau, said that graft in Africa remains a threat to good governance and development."Africa loses more than US$148 billion annually, or 25 percent of its GDP, as a result of corruption. The unrelenting spread of corruption has not helped our continent’s image and growth perspectives,” he asserted.Hoseah stated that strong partnership is highly needed between the African Union (AU) and the continent’s anti-graft institutions to reduce or eradicate loopholes of corruption in Africa.He pointed out that 31 out of 54 countries in Africa have ratified the AU convention to combat corruption in Africa."We call upon those nations who have not ratified the convention to do it urgently. If we rally behind the principle and strengthen our cooperation, we can eliminate the vice,” he noted.The meeting was organised by UNECA, through the Governance and Public Administration Division (GPAD), in collaboration with the Africa Union Advisory Board on Corruption (AUABC). The forum will be followed by an expert meeting on illicit financial outflows for Africa from 23 to 24 February.Rwanda’s Augustine Nzindukiyimana, the acting Ombudsman, observed that it was high time African governments found a lasting solution to corruption which has crippled development in the continent."Rwanda is committed to eradicating corruption. We have consistently dealt with graft cases,” he noted. Rwanda was ranked fourth least corrupt African country by the World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) project according to the report released late last year.The country scored 70.8 percent, the fourth highest score, behind Mauritius with 73.2 percent, Cape Verde with 74.6 percent and Botswana which is the least corrupt African country with a score of 79.9percent.