London - Somalia was the worst-ranked country in an annual African
governance index released on Monday, which showed even the best performers
had slipped in at least one category over the past five years.
The east African country ranked lowest in all four categories of the 2014
Ibrahim Index: safety and rule of law, participation and human rights,
sustainable economic opportunity and human development.
Mauritius kept the top spot, followed by Cape Verde, Botswana, South Africa
and the Seychelles, all of which were in the top five last year.
The index is based on more than 100 indicators from over 30 independent
African and international sources.
Mo Ibrahim, the Sudanese telecoms tycoon who founded the index, welcomed the
fact that 13 out of 52 countries had improved in overall governance as well
as political, social and economic governance over the past five years.
Yet he cautioned the highest performers to be on guard to maintain hard-won
good governance gains.
"Over the past five years, every one of the top five ranking countries has
deteriorated in at least one category, demonstrating that even the highest
performers need to remain vigilant and retain an ongoing commitment to the
governance agenda," Ibrahim said in the foreword to this year's report.
Mauritius, South Africa and the Seychelles slipped in the safety and rule of
law category, Cape Verde in human development and Botswana in sustainable
economic development. South Africa also took a few steps backward on human
rights.
Those who improved most in overall governance were Ivory Coast, Guinea,
Niger, Zimbabwe and Senegal, while the situation deteriorated most in Egypt,
Libya, Guinea-Bissau, Central African Republic and Mali.
Southern Africa scored the highest regional average, with Namibia and
Lesotho joining Mauritius, Botswana and South Africa in the top 10.
Central Africa got the lowest regional average, with Central African
Republic coming in just ahead of Somalia in the overall ranking and Chad,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Congo also among the 10
bottom-ranked countries.