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The ranking of Nigeria in the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) has recorded a significant improvement.
According to the index report released yesterday by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Nigeria ranks 36th out of 54 countries in Overall Governance with a score of 46.5 out of 100. The country’s score has improved by +2.5 points over the last 10 years.
According to the report, Nigeria is one of 10 countries that improved across all four sub-categories of the Sustainable Economic Opportunity category.
“Nigeria has the second most deteriorated score in the National Security sub-category, having declined by -28.6 points over the course of the decade.”
The 2016 IIAG reveals that improvement in overall governance in Africa over the past 10 years has been held back by a widespread deterioration in the category of Safety and Rule of Law.
The 10th edition of the IIAG, the most comprehensive analysis of African governance undertaken to date, brings together a decade of data to assess each of Africa’s 54 countries against 95 indicators drawn from 34 independent sources.
This year, for the first time, the IIAG includes Public Attitude Survey data from Afrobarometer, which captures Africans’ own perceptions of governance, which provide fresh perspective on the results registered by other data such expert assessment and official data.
“Over the last decade, overall governance has improved by one score point at the continental average level, with 37 countries – home to 70 percent of African citizens – registering progress. This overall positive trend has been led mainly by improvement in Human Development and Participation & Human Rights.
“Sustainable Economic Opportunity also registered an improvement, but at a slower pace. However, these positive trends stand in contrast to a pronounced and concerning drop in Safety & Rule of Law, for which 33 out of the 54 African countries – home to almost two-thirds of the continent’s population – have experienced a decline since 2006, 15 of them quite substantially,” the report states.
This worrying trend according to the report has worsened recently, with almost half of the countries on the continent recording their worst score ever in this category within the last three years.
“This is driven by large deteriorations in the sub-categories of Personal Safety and National Security. Notably, Accountability is now the lowest scoring sub-category of the whole Index. Without exception, all countries that have deteriorated at the Overall Governance level have also deteriorated in Safety & Rule of Law.
According to the Foundation’s report, “The improvement in the Participation & Human Rights category, found in 37 countries across the continent, has been driven by progress in Gender and in Participation. However, a marginal deterioration appears in the sub-category Rights, with some worrying trends in indicators relating to the civil society space.
Commenting on the report, Mo Ibrahim, Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, says: “The improvement in overall governance in Africa over the last decade reflects a positive trend in a majority of countries and for over two-thirds of the continent’s citizens. No success, no progress can be sustained without constant commitment and effort.
“As our Index reveals, the decline in safety and rule of law is the biggest issue facing the continent today. Sound governance and wise leadership are fundamental to tackling this challenge, sustaining recent progress and ensuring that Africa’s future is bright.” Ibrahim stated.
Other key findings of the 2016 IIAG are the fact that “over the past decade, the continental average score in Overall Governance has improved by one point.
“Since 2006, 37 countries, hosting 70% of African citizens, have improved in Overall Governance.
“The greatest improver at the Overall Governance level over the decade is Côte d’Ivoire (+13.1), followed by Togo (+9.7), Zimbabwe (+9.7), Liberia (+8.7) and Rwanda (+8.4).” the report revealed.
On the overall Governance level, the three highest scoring countries in 2015 are Mauritius, Botswana and Cabo Verde, and the three most improved over the decade are Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and Zimbabwe.
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation was established in 2006 with a focus on the critical importance of leadership and governance in Africa, by providing tools to assess and support progress in leadership and governance.
While the IIAG provides an annual assessment of the quality of governance in African countries and is the most comprehensive collection of data on African governance. The 2016 IIAG combines 95 indicators from 34 independent African and global data institutions.
