Mo Ibrahim Index 2016 – Mauritius first in Africa

 

The MO Ibrahim Index 2016 – Mauritius first in Africa

 

The Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) 2016 entitled: A decade of African Governance 2006-2015, was released on 3rd October 2016 in London.  Mauritius remains the top ranking country in overall governance in Africa for the tenth consecutive year.

 

Mo Ibrahim Index provides a comprehensive assessment of governance performance 54 African countries.   It is therefore the most comprehensive collection of data on African governance. The report combines 93 indicators into four categories.  Safety and Rule of Law; Participation and Human Rights; Sustainable Economic Opportunity; and Human Development.

 

This year marks the 10th edition of the IIAG.  It is a tool to measure and monitor the performance in every African Country.   This year, for the first time, the IIAG includes Public Attitude Survey data from Afrobarometer.  This consequently captures Africans’ own perceptions of governance, which provide fresh perspective on the results registered by other data such  as expert assessment and official data.

 

Mauritius ranks first in Africa with a total score of 79.9 points.   Botswana and Cape Verde followed with 73.7  and 73 points at the second and third position respectively.

 

The Foundation rated 54 countries and Mauritius scored the highest overall points with the average score for the continent being 50.1.  Southern Africa remained the best performing region with an average score of 58.3.  It is noteworthy that in total, 36 countries have shown improvement in Overall Governance since 2006, this represents 70% of African citizens.

According to the IIAG 2016 Southern Africa show average improvement in all categories except Safety & Rule of Law where it shows a slight deterioration of -1.6 score points.  In addition is showed a decline in accountability by -4.0 score points since 2006 therefore attributing it as the main driver behind the decline in score in Safety & Rule of Law.

 

According to the Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, 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.

 

In conclusion, IIAG was set up in recognition of the need for a robust, comprehensive and quantifiable tool for civil society to track government performance in Africa. Most of all, it is Africa’s leading annual assessment of governance established to inform and empower the continent’s citizens and support governments, parliaments and the civil society to assess progress.

 

For the full report please visit:

Mo Ibrahim Foundation