Mo Ibrahim
3 October 2008
column
What do we really know about the state of governance across our continent? How accurate is the picture of Africa painted by the daily headlines and often brief reports on international news broadcasts?
The answers may surprise some people. For away from the focus on the divisions and problems in individual countries, there is steady progress according to a comprehensive and independent study launched this week by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation in Addis Ababa, the home of the African Union.
The second Ibrahim Index of African Governance has found standards of governance and the health of civil society are improving in almost two-thirds of sub-Saharan countries.
This is vitally important. Without moving towards sound, honest, effective and responsive government, Africa simply can't make the most of its enormous potential.
Demand change
We need to encourage this progress whenever we can and give citizens the information to help demand change where it is too slow.
This is the precise aim of the Ibrahim Index. Now in its second year, it uses a whole range of data and independent sources to give a comprehensive picture of the standards of governance of each country and the impact this is having on the well-being of its citizens.
Each country is judged on five broad categories - safety and security; the rule of law, transparency and corruption; human development; participation and human rights; and sustainable economic opportunity.
Importantly, the Ibrahim Index is not a snapshot of current developments but an accurate analysis of trends.
So today's Ibrahim Index uses authoritative data from 2006, enabling performance to be measured against the previous year.
This allows comparisons to be made now and in the future within individual countries and between them to produce a unique ranking system.
So what does the 2008 Ibrahim Index tell us? It found welcome progress towards better standards of governance in 31 of the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa.
It is particularly encouraging that substantial improvements were found in several post-conflict countries. Liberia is the fastest improver, climbing six places in the ranking.
The country recorded progress in several categories and showed the most improvement in participation and human rights, following successful elections.
No one can doubt that Liberia, like other post-conflict countries, has many challenges ahead of it. But it is a decisive answer to the pessimists which say the problems in some Africa countries are so many and serious that progress is simply not possible.
Human rights
It's pleasing, too, that as the world prepares later this year to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the most marked progress has been in the area of human rights and political participation.
Whilst there is still a considerable distance to go, no less than 29 countries of the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa show improvement in this important area.
The Ibrahim Index reports welcome progress in other areas. No less than 32 countries showed progress on extending educational opportunity, which comes within the broader human development category.
Only five countries performed worse in this crucial area than in 2005. Nearly all countries saw improvements in access to technology, with 40 countries improving their scores for internet usage and 44 countries improving their scores for phone subscribers.
For the second year in succession, the island nations of Mauritius, Seychelles and Cape Verde hold the top three places in the overall rankings.
They are followed by Botswana and South Africa which again score highly.
While many Kenyans may de disappointed to see that their country has dropped two places in the ranking, it will be reassuring to note that its score has increased in the categories of safety and security, sustainable economic opportunity and human development.
It is not all good news. The index strives to give an accurate account of what is happening in Africa.
While the overall picture is good, just under a third of countries recorded a deterioration in standards of governance.
Six countries find themselves in the bottom ten places of the Ibrahim Index for the second year running, with only two of them showing any improvement in their overall scores.
Help citizens
But if we are to accelerate the progress we are already seeing in many African countries and tackle the problems in countries where sadly life is getting worse, we have to give citizens as much information as we can so they can demand change.
The Index is not an academic exercise. It is a tool to help citizens hold their own Governments to account and to point to areas where improvements need to be made.
By celebrating success, we hope it will encourage other countries to look at the way their neighbours are putting in place the right steps for improvement.
Our continent is a much more complex, varied place than it is often painted. Africa has enormous potential. Its people are full of energy and talent. Economies are growing.
Democracy is spreading. By supporting the spread of good governance, we will help tackle problems and accelerate progress. That is the aim of the Index.
Dr Mo Ibrahim is the founder and Chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.
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