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The African continent has registered slight improvement in overall governance performance over the last five years, the 2014 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), launched on Monday, has indicated.

According to IIAG, improvements were experienced in the categories of Participation and Human Rights and Human Development, while for the previous five years improvement was largely driven by progress in Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development. 

However, the +0.9 score points made from 2009 to 2013, is slightly smaller than what was experienced in the previous five years (2005 to 2009), during which the continental average overall governance score increased by +1.2 score points. 

Commenting on the latest index, Mr Mo Ibrahim, Chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, said: “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.” 

The latest index also highlights the potential of governance underperformers, with countries in the bottom half of the rankings, such as Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Niger and Zimbabwe, changing course since 2009 from negative paths to become the biggest improvers on the continent.

This progress has been driven in large part by gains in “Participation and Human Rights.”

Meanwhile, the historically strong performers: Mauritius, Cape Verde, Botswana, South Africa and Seychelles, have shown some deterioration in at least one category over the past five years, although they remain on overall upward trends. 

Concerning this trend, Mr Jay Naidoo, Board Member of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, noted that: “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,” he added.

The IIAG further shows that progress in the Participation and Human Rights category has gathered momentum, making it the most improved 2014 IIAG category over the last five years with +2.4 score points.

However, it is in the area of participation, particularly Political Participation, where the strongest gains in score have been achieved for this latest period.

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

Disturbing trends 

The report shows that after an improvement of +3.4 between 2005 and 2009, the largest of any category in this time period, Sustainable Economic Opportunity registered the opposite trend over the last five-year period, with a deterioration of -0.2. 

This, it notes, was 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. 

In the view of Lord Cairns, another Board Member of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, however, “Perhaps some of the low-hanging fruits 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.”

Also showing a worrying trend is the Safety and Rule of Law category, with 12 countries showing their weakest performance since 2000, in 2013.  

The IIAG shows that after showing a deterioration of -1.5 between 2005 and 2009, this dimension of governance registered another negative trend of -0.8 in the last five-year period, although it was to a lesser extent. 

Safety and 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, while National Security, is the only sub-category within Safety and Rule of Law that showed progress over the past five years.

The +0.5 progress was driven in large part by cross-border tensions, the most improved indicator in the 2014 IIAG.  

Remarking on the disturbing trends, the Chairman of the Ibrahim Prize Committee, Mr Salim Ahmed Salim, said: “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.”

 “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,” Hadeel Ibrahim, Founding Executive Director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, stated.