African governance declines for first time in 10 years because of situation made worse by Covid-19

According to a new report, Africa faces a growing governance crisis, a situation made worse by Covid-19, but not caused by it. The quality of governance across Africa has declined for the first time in a decade, a worrying trend which cannot be attributed to the corvid-19 pandemic, according to the bi-annual Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG). Although the situation has been exacerbated by Covid-19, the decline predates the pandemic, with the index’s results covering the past two years.

Mauritius was again ranked as Africa’s best country for governance, as it has been consistently over previous editions, with Cabo Verde swapping places with Seychelles to claim second, followed by Tunisia, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Ghana, Senegal and Morocco in the top 10. Nine of those countries were in the top 10 two years ago, with Morocco replacing Rwanda which has dropped to 11th.

However, even the leading countries are showing worrying signs, according to Camilla Rocca, head of research at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which publishes the report. Speaking at the IIAG launch on Monday, she explained that even perennial top performers Mauritius and South Africa have declining governance scores, and Botswana, which is still rising up the table, has shown worrying trends. Of the other leading nations, Namibia and Ghana also show what the report called warning signs”.

However, most of the countries ranked between 10 and 20 still registered an improvement, with Angola the most improved, while Burkina Faso had the biggest year to year decline.

Gambia, ranked 16th overall, was the most improved country of the decade, attributed to improved accountability and transparency, while Ivory Coast has made progress in infrastructure and public administration. Libya has seen the largest decline over that period due to the security situation and weakened social protection.

The worst country for governance was Somalia, which has nonetheless showed some gains, followed by South Sudan, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea and Central Africa Republic. The bottom 10 was completed by Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Chad, Libya and Republic of Congo.

In particular, there has been an overall deterioration in two of the four main categories used in the report: human rights and inclusion, security and the rule of law, while participation in democracy has also dropped. That suggests that warnings from the IIAG have not been heeded.

Rocca said that while Covid-19 has made these situations worse, the the full impact of the pandemic has not yet been fully accounted for. There has been an improvement in the other two criteria: foundations for economic opportunity and human development, although even that is slowing. The biggest progress has been made in infrastructure and health, supported by improved environmental sustainability.

Rocca said, the African governance strand has been declining over the past five years. It is the first time the overall score has deteriorated in a decade.

Governance had previously increased or stayed the same across the years 2010 to 2018. More than 60% of Africa’s population in 2019 lives in a country where governance has improved since 2010, and there has been an overall improvement in the continent’s score since then.

Africa was on positive path for improvement on foundations for economic opportunity in past five and 10 years, but coronavirus has threatened this progress. Rights have been eroding since before the pandemic, a trend worsened by the response to Covid-19, and gaps in human development have been put under spotlight by the pandemic. This is reflected by a worsening public perception in those areas.

IIAG, which has been running since 2007, has modified its methodology this year, which Rocca said reflected the expanding needs of users.

The index now takes into account a new governance landscape, which includes a young and rapidly urbanising population which faces 21st century challenges and has increased expectations of its governments. To that end, the index now looks at anti-corruption, inclusion and equality, and sustainability and the environment.

IIAG has also overhauled its data, increasing the number of sources and giving greater prominence to the voices of African citizens through data compiled by Accra-headquartered research and analysis provider Afrobarometer, which considered the perceptions of governments and officials, providing a “reality check” to the data.

Rocca acknowledged that there are still gaps in the report on issues including the environment, healthcare capacity, education completion, access to energy, organised crime and continental integration.

Abdoulie Janneh, executive director and chair of IIAG, described the results as a worrying deterioration in governance warning It is important that we in Africa look at this dataset seriously, at national, regional and continental level. He urged countries to partner with the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and their citizens, to find solutions. We want particularly to engage civil society, because it is though civil society that we can hold the feet of government to the fire.

The index is released on alternate years, but last year its African Governance Report which found that the overall quality of governance had improved over the preceding five years, but warned that progress was slowing in key areas, such as education.