Latest assessment of African governance: South Africa consistently ranks in top five for governance quality

The 2011 Ibrahim Index of African Governance shows that balance, equity and inclusiveness are key to governance quality across the continent Dakar, Johannesburg, London, Nairobi: The 2011 Ibrahim Index of African Governance is launched today by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, an organisation that supports good governance and great leadership in Africa. The Index provides full details of South Africa's performance across the four categories of governance as assessed by the Index: Safety & Rule of Law, Participation & Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development.

During the past five years, the countries that have consistently ranked in the top five for overall governance performance (Mauritius, Cape Verde, Botswana, Seychelles and South Africa) have, up to now, performed highly across all four categories.

Established in 2007, the Ibrahim Index is the most comprehensive collection of quantitative data providing an annual assessment of governance performance in every African country.

South Africa's performance in the 2011 Ibrahim Index of African Governance:

• South Africa scores 71 (out of 100) for governance quality and is ranked 5th out of 53 countries.
• South Africa scores higher than the regional average for Southern Africa which is 58.
• South Africa scores higher than the continental average which is 50.
• At sub-category level, South Africa's highest rank is in Public Management (1st) and lowest in Personal Safety (44th).
• Over the past five years South Africa's overall governance quality deteriorated (between 2006 and 2010).
• South Africa is ranked 3rd out of 12 countries in Southern Africa.

South Africa's category and sub-category scores:

Southern Africa is the top performing region in the 2011 Index.

• Southern Africa performs strongly across all the categories of the Index, ranking in 1st place for Safety & Rule of Law and Participation & Human Rights and 2nd place for the other two categories, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development. In all four categories, Southern Africa scores above the continental average.
• Southern Africa scores above the continental average for 13 out of 14 sub-categories and ranks in 1st place for almost half of the sub-categories in the Index.
• Rural Sector is the only sub-category in which Southern Africa's score falls below the continental average.
• Southern Africa as a region displays balanced and equitable performance with strong average regional performance in all categories and almost all underlying sub-categories.

• The most successful country in Southern Africa is Mauritius, with top ranks in all four categories. Mauritius also ranks in the top ten for all of the sub-categories of the Index.

Overall results of the 2011 Ibrahim Index of African Governance:

• The Index shows that countries that pursue a balanced approach to all dimensions of governance achieve the most success.
• But the overall general trend in Africa is one of imbalance. Many countries have improved in both Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development, but this progress has not been mirrored in Safety & Rule of Law and Participation & Human Rights.

Key Index findings across the past five years (2006 to 2010) show that:

• •Large differences in performances between countries and across categories are masked by the unchanged continental average of 50 for overall governance quality.
• The most striking improvements have been achieved by Liberia and Sierra Leone, two countries emerging from lengthy civil wars:
  • Liberia improved across all four categories and 13 out of 14 sub-categories.
  • Sierra Leone has also improved across all four categories.
• Countries that have consistently ranked in the top five for overall governance performance (Mauritius, Cape Verde, Botswana, Seychelles and South Africa) have, up to now, also performed highly in all four categories.
• Togo and Angola have also seen meaningful improvements:
  • Togo's score has increased in all four categories, in particular Participation & Human Rights, which was Togo's weakest score in 2006.
  • Angola has improved in three categories, in particular Participation & Human Rights and Human Development, which were Angola's weakest scores in 2006.
• Egypt, Libya and Tunisia demonstrate starkly the imbalance between weak performance in Safety & Rule of Law and Participation & Human Rights and strong performance in Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development. This imbalance between the countries' performance in Human Development and Participation and Human Rights might well have been a trigger for instability.
  • While all three countries are ranked in the top ten in Human Development, with Egypt and Tunisia also ranked in the top ten for Sustainable Economic Opportunity, all three countries are ranked in the bottom half of the Index for Participation & Human Rights, with scores that are below the continental average.

• Category trends:

• Sustainable Economic Opportunity: 38 countries improved, three significantly. No country has declined significantly.
• Human Development: 48 countries improved. In the Health sub-category in particular all but two countries improved and neither of the two declines was significant.
• Safety & Rule of Law: 36 countries declined, one significantly.
• Participation & Human Rights: 39 countries declined, one significantly.
• The greatest declines in Safety & Rule of Law and Participation & Human Rights are substantially larger than the concurrent improvements in Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development.

Commenting on the 2011 Index Mo Ibrahim, Founder and Chair of the Foundation, said:

"We have seen this year that Africa's young majority are no longer willing to stand for the selective approach to governance adopted by many of our continent's governments. Our young people are demanding a holistic, equitable and inclusive approach to the management of their countries. The Index findings echo these demands - achievements in economic management and human development, however striking, will not be realised if a democratic deficit persists. Africa's success stories are delivering the whole range of the public goods and services that citizens have a right to expect and are forging a path that we hope more will follow."

Top five in the 2011 Ibrahim Index

Bottom five in the 2011 Ibrahim Index

Notes to Editors

The governance indicators measured by the Index are grouped into four overall categories (made up of constituent sub-categories):

• Safety & Rule of Law (Rule of Law, Accountability, Personal Safety, National Security)
• Participation & Human Rights (Participation, Rights, Gender)
• Sustainable Economic Opportunity (Public Management, Business Environment, Infrastructure, Rural Sector)
• Human Development (Welfare, Education, Health)

The 2011 Ibrahim Index includes new indicators assessing physical and telecommunications infrastructure; gender; health; welfare service provision; and economic management.

The Ibrahim Index is improved each year to ensure it is a living tool. Previous years' data are recalculated in line with improvements made to the Index's structure and to reflect newly available data. The lack of comprehensive and robust data on Africa means that assessment of key areas of governance, particularly income poverty, continue to be excluded from the Ibrahim Index. The Foundation is strongly committed to the issue of strengthening African statistical capacity.

Statement issued by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, October 10 2011

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