JOHANNESBURG – Many countries in Africa are enjoying a period of economic growth, but the continent’s progress has been undermined by declines in the rule of law, a political-performance survey said yesterday.
The Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance, a survey designed to encourage good government and name and shame Africa’s worst regimes, gave the continent a mixed report card, saying recent economic growth and development has been offset by declines in political rights and security.
The index, launched in 2007, is published annually by a foundation created by Mo Ibrahim, a wealthy Sudanese businessman who founded Celtel International telecommunications.
‘There were recent gains in over 40 countries but overall we saw significant declines in the area of political rights and personal safety,’ said foundation board member Mamphela Ramphele at a press conference announcing the results.
Of the 53 countries surveyed, she said, ‘almost two-thirds declined in human rights.’
The index examines 88 indicators and ranks African countries in five areas: overall governance, safety and rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity, and human development.
Ramphele said Angola, Liberia and Togo registered significant improvements in their overall governance scores, while Eritrea and Madagascar declined.
Guinea, Mauritania and Somalia also registered significant declines in the area of safety and the rule of law.
‘The 2010 Ibrahim Index gives us a mixed picture about recent progress on governance across the continent,’ Ibrahim said in a statement.
‘While many African citizens are becoming healthier and have greater access to economic opportunities than five years ago, many of them are less physically secure and less politically enfranchised.’
The study’s authors said Africa’s overall governance, scored on a scale of zero to 100, remained largely unchanged from previous years with a continent-wide average of 49.
Mauritius (82) topped the overall ranking, followed by Seychelles (75), Botswana (74), Cape Verde (74) and South Africa (70).
Somalia (8) scored lowest. Chad (31), Zimbabwe (32), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (32) and Eritrea (33) rounded out the bottom five.
The study’s authors said Africa’s economic growth is being undermined by a ‘democratic recession’, and urged the continent’s leaders not to neglect the political side of development.
‘We have seen from evidence and experience across the world that discrepancies between political governance and economic management are unsustainable in the long term,’ foundation board member Salim Ahmed Salim said in a statement.
Ibrahim is also the creator of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, the world’s largest annual prize, created to reward former leaders for good governance.
The foundation has not awarded the prize for the past two years, saying there were no deserving candidates.
Ramphele encouraged African countries to focus less on leadership and more on the potential of ordinary citizens.
‘The energy that is trapped in citizens is huge,’ she said.
‘Africa’s problems will persist until we put enormous investment into making people part and parcel of its development.’ – Nampa-AFP
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