Mo-Ibrahim Foundation report points to decline in good governance in Africa

View of Bangui, in 2016. REUTERS - Siegfried Modola

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2 mins

In its index of good governance, the organization founded by the Anglo-Sudanese billionaire notes " 

" and an " 

".

During the decade 2012-2021, the continent has become less secure and less democratic.

And even in so-called “performing” countries, there are sometimes also surprises.

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Of the 54 African countries, 35 are progressing, while 19 are regressing in terms of good governance, according to the Mo Ibrahim index which ranks the continent's states according to their efforts in terms of security, participation, human development and economic opportunities.

At the top of the ranking: Mauritius, followed by the Seychelles, Tunisia, Cape Verde and Botswana.

But in Mauritius, the living conditions of citizens are deteriorating more and more.

At issue: insecurity and democratic decline.

Mauritius is not an isolated case.

According to the Mo Ibrahim index, nearly 70% of the African population has been faced with insecurity since 2012. Coups d'etat, armed conflicts, authoritarian regimes... Countries like South Sudan, Somalia, and Central African Republic are thus at the bottom of the ranking.

“

 , "explains Nathalie Delapalme, executive director of the Mo Ibrahim foundation (read interview below).

However, certain trends bring hope: 43 nations have seen their economic situation improve over the past ten years, such as Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Angola.

The most significant progress is attributed to The Gambia, the reverse for Libya.

Finally, the study by the Mo-Ibrahim Foundation underlines that almost all African countries have made progress in terms of access to health and education.

"Every time the situation deteriorates in terms of security and the rule of law, governance declines"

Even if the level of global governance is better in 2021 than in 2012, progress has stagnated for three years, which worries Nathalie Delapalme, executive director of the Mo Ibrahim foundation.

RFI: The democratic decline began before the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

How do you explain it

Nathalie Delapalme

This stagnation is essentially driven, I would even say solely driven, by an accelerated deterioration in results, performance in terms of safety and rules of law.

What is emphasized is that each time the situation deteriorates in terms of security and the rule of law, governance also declines.

You have 32 countries in which the situation deteriorated between 2012 and 2021.

In your ranking, Mauritius comes first for the fourth consecutive year, but you also underline a regression, why?

When you look closely at Mauritius, you perceive that in all three dimensions – security/rule of law, participation/inclusion, foundation of economic opportunities – the situation is deteriorating more and more accelerated in the second part of the period 2012-2021.

With regard to the human development dimension, the deterioration is there too.

If you don't have balanced governance in these four dimensions, overall governance performance drops.

What lessons should be learned from your index?

The index is not intended to provide advice on security and the rule of law.

It is simply a consolidated dashboard that takes into consideration all the different dimensions of governance.

If we do not raise the bar fast enough, particularly on security issues, Africa will not be able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the achievement of the AU Agenda 2063. .

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