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A latest report from the Mo Ibrahim Foundation on African governance shows a decline in overall progress for the first time in a decade. This has been driven by a decline in security and the rule of law in some countries.
The 2020 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) has named Mauritius, Cape Verde, Seychelles, Tunisia and Botswana as the best scoring countries in 2019. Angola and Somalia remain at the bottom, but on a constant path of improvement.
The report released on November 16 by the foundation in London said that, for the 10th year in a row, Mauritius maintained its top position in 2019, while Somalia remained in last place due to security challenges in parts of the country posed by militants. of al-Shabaab.
Despite these challenges, Somalia has improved in its governance score since 2010, thanks to improved infrastructure and greater gender equality, among other things, according to the report.
“Sixty percent of Africans live in countries where governance is better in 2019 than in 2010,” according to Nathalie Delapalme, executive director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation (MIF).
“However, since 2015, this progress has slowed down, which is a bit concerning,” Delapalme told DW in an interview.
Human development above, rule of law below
The IIAG is a tool that measures and monitors the performance of governance in 54 African countries annually.
The framework comprises four categories: security and the rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity, and human development. In 2019, human development was the highest score of the four governance categories.
The foundation defines governance as the provision of political, social and economic public goods and services that every citizen has the right to expect from their state.
During the last decade, the dimensions of governance have followed divergent paths. In other words, while there has been an increase in improving infrastructure, economic opportunities, and human development, there is a decline in the rule of law and security.
Matter of concern
However, some high-ranking countries, such as Mauritius, Botswana or South Africa, which are still currently in first, fifth and sixth place respectively, follow a worrying path of deterioration since 2015.
In contrast, some lower-ranking countries such as Gambia (16th), Ivory Coast (18th) and Zimbabwe (33rd) rank among the top five breeders during the decade. Somalia, ranked 54th, is the seventh most improved country in the last ten years.
In addition to a balanced approach to governance progress, the rule of law, justice, inclusion and equality appear to be the main common denominators among the best performing countries.
“Somalia, which is at the bottom of the index, has shown signs of improvement over the last decade, and Angola is in the top five trending countries,” Delapalme said.
Most Africans dissatisfied with their government
In more than half of the countries surveyed, citizens are less satisfied with the governance performance of their country than they were ten years ago. For most countries, the deterioration in public perception of general governance has worsened since 2015.
As digital rights have also been infringed and internet shutdowns are increasing in Africa, there has been a decrease in information sharing.
“The analysis of our findings was that there was widespread dissatisfaction among African citizens when it came to governance in their countries, and the level of satisfaction is worse than ten years,” said Camilla Rocco, Head of Research at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. .
“Citizens are the recipients of public governance and leadership, and governance performance evaluation must be based on results for citizens and cannot rely solely on official and expert evaluation data,” Rocco told DW.
COVID-19 challenges
The foundation acknowledged that African governments face unusual challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected their performance.
However, the report shows that the continent has gone through a security decline long before COVID-19, and the pandemic aggravated an already alarming situation in terms of electoral interference, reduced space for civil society, increased repression. and political unrest. . COVID-19 also put countries’ health gaps in the spotlight across the continent.
“The current COVID-19 pandemic is obviously getting worse and threatening those who have been moving forward, especially in the economic sector,” Delapalme noted.
While the index’s first reports focused primarily on traditional public services, such as security or education, the 2020 report now covers new areas such as health care affordability and inequalities. In addition, it highlights issues of discrimination based on ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation.
Ibrahim Index: A Fair Assessment?
In recent years, African governments have accused the Mo Ibrahim Foundation of publishing only negative reports about their situation. However, the foundation says its findings are based on information gathered by various research groups.
“It is not an evaluation carried out entirely by the foundation. We are just presenting a dashboard that is consolidating data that comes from 38 different sources, ”Delapalme said,“ so it is a collective assessment. All countries share the indicators we are using. So I think it is a fair and impartial evaluation. “
The report ranks Côte d’Ivoire among the best improved over the past decade despite electoral violence in recent years and political divisions among its politicians. However, Delapalme says, “Côte d’Ivoire has made good progress over the last decade based on human development and economic opportunities.” He added that the 2020 index reflects the year 2019, so it does not consider what happened this year.
