Ghana ranks 7th in ‘Overall Governace’
Ghana’s overall performance in governance has deteriorated over the last 10 years, according to the 2016 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG). The country ranked 7th out of 54 countries in ‘Overall Governance’ with a score of 63.9 out of 100 but its score has fallen by -2.1 points over the last ten years.
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Although Ghana is one of the top 10 performers in ‘Overall Governance’ in 2015, it is also the eighth most deteriorated over the course of the decade, the Index says.
The country, however, performed very well in digital and information technology infrastructure with +46.6 points over the decade.
Mo Ibrahim on governance
The Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Mr Mo Ibrahim, observed that “the improvement in overall governance in Africa over the last decade reflected 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,” he said.
At 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 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 report launched yesterday includes Public Attitude Survey data from Afrobarometer. This captures Africans’ own perceptions of governance, which provide fresh perspective on the results registered by other data such such as expert assessment and official data.
Findings
Key findings include the fact that over the past decade, the continental average score in overall governance has improved by one point.
Since 2006, 37 countries, which are home to 70 per cent 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 findings also show that even if Ghana and South Africa feature in the top 10 performing countries in overall governance in 2015, they are also the eighth and tenth most deteriorated over the decade.
Safety and Rule of Law is the only category of the Index to register a negative trend over the decade, falling by -2.8 score points in the past ten years.
In 2015, almost two-thirds of African citizens live in a country where safety and rule of law has deteriorated over the last ten years.
The continental average score for the Corruption and Bureaucracy indicator has declined by -8.7 points over the last decade, with 33 countries registering deterioration, 24 of them falling to their worst ever score in 2015.
A large majority (78 per cent) of African citizens live in a country that has improved in Participation and Human Rights over the past decade.
Human rights
The result also indicated that progress over the decade in Participation and Human Rights (+2.4 points) has been driven by gender (+4.3) and participation (+3.0), while rights (-0.2) registered a slight decline.
In spite of improved human right and participation, the continent score on Freedom of Expression over the past ten years has not been impressive.
Two-thirds of the countries on the continent, representing 67 per cent of the African population, have shown deterioration in Freedom of Expression over the decade.
Eleven countries, covering over a quarter (27 per cent) of the continent’s population, have declined across all three civil society measures – Civil Society Participation, Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Association and Assembly – over the decade.
Electricity
Coming on the back of an energy crisis that hit Ghana, Nigeria South Africa, Zambia and Botswana, the Index, found that 40 per cent of Africans lived in a country which has registered deterioration in electricity infrastructure over the decade, with over half of Africa’s economy affected by this issue.
Although it found poverty dropped by less than eight per cent, in 2015, more than two-thirds of African citizens (70 per cent) live in countries where Sustainable Economic Opportunity has improved in the last ten years.
For the Business Environment over the decade, Niger, Rwanda, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo and Kenya have progressed by more than +10.0 points with the rest of the continent showing divergent trends of 24 countries declining, five by more than -10.0 points, and 28 countries progressing, five by more than +10.0 points.
Progress in child mortality
The continent made a huge leap in child mortality over the decade, with all 54 countries registering progress.
All 54 countries have registered progress in Child Mortality over the decade.