http://mgafrica.com/article/2014-07-11-20-african-things-that-will-totally-surprise-you-in-the-latest-fragile-states-index
Latest from a controversial index: 20 Africa facts that will totally
surprise you
11 Jul 2014 16:28 Lee Mwiti
http://mgafrica.com/article/2014-07-11-20-african-things-that-will-totally-surprise-you-in-the-latest-fragile-states-index
Things are not always what you think they are on this continent.
For the last ten years Foreign Policy magazine has together with
independent research institution Fund for Peace published a controversial
annual list that was known as the Failed States Index (
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/fragile-states-2014), before being renamed the
Fragile States Index due to what they said were the unique challenges faced
by each country.
The 2014 rankings have now been released, and in keeping with trends on the
list, Africa cuts a forlorn figure on the list, boasting the five worst
nations in the "very high alert" category--rankings that have ensured that
the index has army of critics on the continent.
The index is based in 12 indicators ranging from the economic and social to
the political.
The methodology continues to stir up debate, but away from the headline
numbers there are many things deep in the list that will surprise you--for
both good and bad reasons:
1: Zambia, which has a decent tradition of democratic elections, is ranked
lower than South Sudan under the Democratic Progress indicator, and even
Zimbabwe, Angola, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Nigeria and Tanzania.
2: Uganda has more refugees and Internally Displaced Persons than Zimbabwe,
Kenya, Mali, Eritrea and Zambia.
3: Somalia, which is home to an entire aid industry and where 22,000 AU
peacekeepers are daily battling Al-Shabaab militants, has less instance of
external intervention--such as levels of foreign assistance-- than Cote
d'Ivoire.
4: Cameroon, ruled by an all-controlling, all-seeing strongman Paul Biya
since 1982, has more factionalised elites--defined as conflict and
competition among local and national leaders--than regional tinderboxes
Egypt, Cote d'Ivoire and Kenya. Burundi, known for its political fragility,
is one of the star performers in this category.
5: Nigeria has more tension and violence among internal groups than the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR),
which both feature among the top five worst performers overall. Kenya comes
in worse than Egypt and Zimbabwe.
6: More people leave relatively peaceful Malawi as migrants than they do
the hotspots of Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Eritrea.
7: More Ghanaians have left their country for various reasons than they
have DRC, CAR, or Nigeria...and South Sudan.
8: Kenya has more incidence of internal conflict and proliferation of
non-state armed groups than civil war-stricken Mali and Egypt.
9: The Gambia, ruled by the much-maligned strongman Yahya Jammeh, has a
better overall human rights record than Nigeria.
10: Somalia, recovering from two decades of civil war, is better at
provision of education, health care, sanitation and other such human
development services than Chad.
11: Not to be left behind, Eritrea also does better at public service
provision than Tanzania, and Nigeria, Africa's largest economy.
12: Somalia has a higher legitimacy of the state--a measure of how little
corruption there is, and how better governance is, than both Zimbabwe and
Guinea.
13: Nigeria again faces off with Eritrea, with both being at par under the
same legitimacy of the state indicator.
14: Zambia, an African peace haven, has higher poverty rates, and a weaker
economy, than off-radar Eritrea and post-conflict Liberia.
15: Libya, ravaged by armed groups and teeming with bandits, has better
economic prospects than Tunisia and African star Botswana.
16: Botswana, with a population of only two million, has higher disparities
in development among different groups than Uganda and Burundi.
17: Eritrea also does a better job of spreading the wealth around different
groups than Nigeria, Botswana and South Africa.
18: The isolated Horn of Africa country that is Eritrea, seemingly the
unheralded star of the index, is also viewed as a strong--or less
fragile--state than Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda.
19. Sierra Leone, a permanent fixture since the Index started publishing
its worst Top 10 in 2005, is now off the "Alert" category, the first
country to make such an exit.
20: Zimbabwe, held down by the ever-green Robert Mugabe, was the most
improved this year, in part due to constitutional reforms, and a quiet
election by its past standards.
Received on Wed Jul 16 2014 - 15:03:18 EDT