Abdoulie Janneh, Executive Director, Liaison with Governments and Institutions in Africa for the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, participated in a two-day seminar on State of Governance in Africa-Focus on Sierra Leone, and the launching of the Pay No Bribe Campaign along with the Open Government Partnership Consultations.
It was organised by the African Development Bank, the Government of Sierra Leone and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and hosted by His Excellency, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. The Foundation made two presentations: The State of Governance in Africa 2013 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), and Sierra Leone’s Performance on the 2013 IIAG.
The session was attended by over 160 participants representing Ministries from Sierra Leone, Foreign Embassies, African and global multilateral institutions, Academia, Local Council as well as the private sector from 20-21 February 2014. This event forms part of a series of stakeholder engagement programmes undertaken by Mr Janneh aimed at assisting various countries to better understand the 2013 IIAG as well as their country’s performance as it equates to both the regional and continental findings.
Sierra Leone’s performance in the 2013 IIAG
Sierra Leone made the list of the IIAG’s top five ‘most improved’ countries since 2000 along with Liberia, Angola, Rwanda and Burundi – all of which are post-conflict countries. Since 2000, Sierra Leone has shown its biggest improvement in the category of Safety & Rule of Law (a category in which many other African countries have seen recent deteriorations). Safety & Rule of Law measures judicial functions, accountability, transparency and corruption, property rights, personal safety and national security among others.
The 2013 IIAG shows that 94% of Africans – including those in Sierra Leone live in a country that has experienced overall governance improvement since 2000. The country ranks 11th out of 16 in the West African region; scores lower than the regional average for West Africa (52.5); ranks highest in the category Participation & Human Rights (22nd out of 52); ranks lowest in the category Human Development. (48th out of 52); ranks its highest in the sub region in the sub-category Rights (14th out of 52) and ranks its lowest in the sub-category Health (49th out of 52).
Mr Janneh highlighted that despite vast improvements since 2000, Sierra Leone’s governance score remains below the continental average for Africa as well as the regional average for West Africa.
The IIAG provides
- a framework for stakeholders to assess the delivery of public goods and services, and policy outcomes, in every African country
- a tool with which to govern, highlighting continental, regional, national and thematic governance results.
The data are classified within four categories:
- Safety & Rule of Law
- Participation & Human Rights
- Sustainable Economic Opportunity
- Human Development.
The IIAG is compiled using many international and African sources.
