[ 2014-09-30 ]

Mo Ibrahim Foundation records improvement in overall African governance but...
The 2014 Ibrahim Index of African Governance,
launched today, shows that between 2009 and 2013
overall governance improved on the African
continent. However, over the past ten years, the
main drivers of this overall positive trend have
changed.

“ The results of the 2014 IIAG challenge our
perceptions about the state of African governance.
Africa is progressing, but the story is complex
and doesn't fit the stereotypes. Even if the
overall picture looks good, we must all remain
vigilant and not get complacent,” said Mo
Ibrahim, Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

At the country level, the 2014 IIAG highlights the
potential of governance underperformers while
revealing the weaknesses of current frontrunners.
Countries in the bottom half of the rankings
register the largest improvements over the past
five years. Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Niger and
Zimbabwe have changed course since 2009 from
negative trajectories to become the biggest
improvers on the continent. This progress has
been driven in large part by gains in
Participation & Human Rights . Meanwhile, the
historically strong performers, Mauritius, Cabo
Verde, Botswana, South Africa and Seychelles, have
shown some deterioration in at least one category
over the past five years, notwithstanding that all
these countries remain on overall upward trends.

“The 2014 IIAG results show that high-ranking
countries cannot assume that future achievements
will necessarily follow previous accomplishments.
More generally, let us make sure that the Africa
Rising narrative, that everyone is talking about,
truly benefits all African people, ” said Jay
Naidoo, Board Member of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.


At category level, the 2014 IIAG also reveals that
the main drivers of the overall positive trend
in African governance have changed . For the
most recent five years, from 2009 to 2013,
progress has been jointly driven by Participation
& Human Rights and Human Development , whereas
the main driver of gains in the previous period
(2005-2009) wasSustainable Economic Opportunity,
which has stalled in the most recent period.

Progress in the Participation & Human Rights
category has gathered momentum, making it the
most improved 2014 IIAG category over the last
five years (+2.4 ). While in Rights and Gender the
trends are both positive, it is in the area of
Participation, particularly Political
Participation, where the strongest gains in score
have been achieved for this latest period.

“With a growing electorate that has
demonstrated a desire to be heard, the results of
the 2014 IIAG confirm that Participation & Human
Rights is a crucial aspect of governance that
governments cannot ignore,” said Mary Robinson,
Board Member of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

In contrast, after an improvement of +3.4 between
2005 and 2009, the largest of any category in this
time period, Sustainable Economic Opportunity has
registered the opposite trend over the last
five-year period, with a deterioration of -0.2.
This is due to a reversal of trends in two of the
four sub-categories, Public Management and
Business Environment, and a slower pace of
improvement in the other two sub-categories,
Infrastructure and Rural Sector.

“Perhaps some of the low-hanging fruit of better
economic management have been garnered. The
challenge grows for the continent to become a
fully competitive force in the global market at a
time when commodity price trends are becoming less
helpful to many countries on the continent,”
said Lord Cairns, Board Member of the Mo Ibrahim
Foundation.

Meanwhile, the Safety & Rule of Law category
continues to expose concerning trends, . Having
shown a deterioration of -1.5 between 2005 and
2009, this dimension of governance registers
another negative trend in the last five-year
period, although to a lesser extent (-0.8).
Safety & Rule of Law is the only category in the
2014 IIAG to have demonstrated two consecutive
five-year period deteriorations in the last ten
years. National Security is the only sub-category
within Safety & Rule of Law to have shown progress
over the past five years (+0.5), driven in large
part by Cross-border Tensions, the most improved
indicator in the 2014 IIAG. This aspect of
improved citizen security is in contrast to the
deterioration registered in Personal Safety (-1.1)
in the past five years, driven by declines in four
of the six underlying indicators.

“ Even if overall governance trends are
positive, contrasting performance in the 2014 IIAG
is of concern. The strength and sustainability of
Africa's future prosperity will be defined by the
continent's commitment to all governance
dimensions, including safety, security, and the
rule of law,” said Salim Ahmed Salim, Chair of
the Ibrahim Prize Committee.

On the other hand, Human Development has remained
a consistent improver , showing positive movement
of +2.3 since 2009 , after a positive trend of
+2.2 between 2005 and 2009. All sub-categories
and 41 out of 52 countries have seen an
improvement over the past five years, with a
quarter of these having improved by more than +5.0
points. Healthis the most improved sub-category
within the 2014 IIAG. I n the last five years, all
of its underlying indicators, which measure
issues such as maternal mortality, immunisation
and undernourishment, have registered progress.
However, this largely positive picture masks the
poor performance of some countries, particularly
in Welfare.

“The 2014 IIAG underscores the need to focus on
building equitable and efficient institutions,
such as health systems, accountability mechanisms
and statistical offices. Without these, we will
not be able to meet the challenges we face –
from strengthening the rule of law to managing
shocks such as the Ebola virus,” concluded
Hadeel Ibrahim, Founding Executive Director of the
Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

Source - MyjoyOnline

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