Africa: New Ibrahim Report Reveals Governance ‘Stagnation’ in Africa

Monrovia — The 2024 Ibrahim Index of African Governance report – released biennially by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to assess the performance of various African governments and trends across the continent – reveals that the region has experienced years of “almost complete stagnation”.

The report said, that in 2022, overall governance progress “grounded to a halt” as rising conflict and insecurity, as well as a “shrinking democratic space”, undermined progress.

“Over the decade 2014-2023, there is progress for just over half (52.1%) of Africa’s population, living in 33 out of 54 countries, but for the remaining half, the level of overall governance reached in 2023 is worse than in 2014,” according to the report.

Using data from dozens of independent sources, the report’s authors said it is based on hundreds of variables organized into four main categories: Security & Rule of Law; Participation, Rights & Inclusion; Foundations for Economic Opportunity; and Human Development.

It stresses, however, that while the continent’s overall picture looks “concerning”, there are some “very dynamic and diverse performances and trajectories”. At the country level, for instance, the report cites 13 countries – including Egypt, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, and Somalia – that “follow a successful course of overall governance progress” over the decade, with the latter four joining Seychelles, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Angola, Mauritania, and Djibouti in the top 10 most improved countries between 2014 and 2023.

Seychelles overtook Mauritius for the top-rank spot during the period under review.

The report lamented the state of governance in countries it categorized as “most deteriorated”, including Comoros, Mali, Burkina Faso, DR Congo, Niger, and Eswatini. “However, decade-long deterioration are also seen in high-ranked countries”, it states.

Despite the dire picture, “substantial” progress was recorded in the economic and human development-related sub-categories. The 2024 report cites infrastructure as the “most improved” sub-category during the period, “underpinned by impressive advancements in access to mobile communications, internet and computers, and to energy”. This, the report noted was closely followed by “remarkable progress” in women’s Equality.

Conversely, “all security and democracy related sub-categories” have deteriorated over the decade.