African governance gains slowing, Somalia ranked bottom - index
Mon Sep 29, 2014 1:35pm GMT
(Recasts, updates with quotes from news conference)
By Astrid Zweynert
LONDON, Sept 29 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - African governance standards
are gradually improving but there are warning signs of backsliding, an
annual index on the way countries are governed showed on Monday.
The Ibrahim Index of African Governance ranked Somalia lowest, coming bottom
in all four categories: safety and rule of law, participation and human
rights, sustainable economic opportunity and human development.
Mauritius kept the top spot, followed by Cape Verde, Botswana, South Africa
and the Seychelles, all of which were in the top five last year.
Mo Ibrahim, the Sudanese telecoms tycoon who founded the index, welcomed the
fact that 13 out of 52 countries had improved in overall governance as well
as political, social and economic governance over the past five years.
"The picture is mixed," Ibrahim told a news conference. "Governance has
improved across Africa but we need to remain vigilant and not get
complacent."
Sustainable economic opportunity, a measure of how governments deliver
policies conducive to growth, declined in the past five years following
improvements from 2005 to 2009.
Festus Mogae, a former president of Botswana, said this was a big challenge
for Africa.
"It's a great worry because it has resulted in high unemployment, especially
among our youth," Mogae told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"African governments must think of how they can grow their economies so that
there are acceptable levels of employment."
More and more Africans are going to school and university, he said, but job
creation had not been keeping up with the supply of skilled labour.
AFRICA RISING ... SLOWLY
Ibrahim cautioned that even the highest performers had deteriorated in at
least one index category, a sign that they had to stay committed to the
governance agenda to maintain hard-won gains.
"Africa is rising but it's rising slowly," he said.
Mauritius, South Africa and the Seychelles slipped in the safety and rule of
law category, Cape Verde in human development and Botswana in sustainable
economic development. South Africa also deteriorated on human rights.
Ivory Coast, Guinea, Niger, Zimbabwe and Senegal improved most in overall
governance, while Egypt, Libya, Guinea-Bissau, Central African Republic and
Mali deteriorated most.
Southern Africa scored the highest regional average, with Namibia and
Lesotho joining Mauritius, Botswana and South Africa in the top 10.
Central Africa got the lowest regional average, with Central African
Republic coming in just ahead of Somalia in the overall ranking and Chad,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Congo also among the 10
bottom-ranked countries.
The index is based on more than 100 indicators from over 30 independent
African and international sources. (Reporting By Astrid Zweynert; Editing by
Alisa Tang and Ros Russell)