By Abdallah el-Kurebe, Editor
The chairman of Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Mo Ibrahim has said that three out of four Africans live in better governed countries today than they did 10 years ago.
Speaking at the launch of the 2018 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) by the foundation during a live event, he ranked Nigeria 33th out of 54 in overall governance with a score of 47.9 and a growth rate of 2.8 per cent.
While observing that African countries improved in governance over the last 10 years on the average, Ibrahim however noted that there were issues slowing the growth that must be dealt with.
“Over 10 years we are improving in governance, not fantastically but gently. So, 3 out of 4 Africans are living in better governed countries today. That is positive but we are hoping for a faster and better growth forward. That is general basically and we need to understand that this is 54 countries.
“Each country has its own story. So the averages sort of masks the generics of each country, this is the general picture,” he stated.
Ibrahim disclosed that the growth was measured by several key indicators including rule of law, safety, national security and business safety.
“Rule of law, safety and national security is an important indicator and what we notice is that – rule of law is improving in Africa but unfortunately, security and business safety have deteriorated.
“There is a lot of conflict going on in Africa. The likes of Boko Haram, different variations of armed groups. In general, there is concern about the safety of our people that is deteriorating. In human development, health has always been a strongly, forward moving indicator. It is moving,” he said.
Established in 2006 with a focus on the critical importance of leadership and governance in Africa, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation provides tools to assess and support progress in leadership and governance.
It also provides an annual assessment of the quality of governance in African countries and is the most comprehensive collection of data on African governance.
