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Overall Governance: A decade of progress under threat due to diverging trends and COVID-19 impact
The 2022 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) shows that the African average score for Overall Governance has improved by +1.1 score points over the decade (2012-2021). More than half of Africa’s population live in a country where governance has improved between 2012 and 2021, primarily because of progress in two IIAG categories – Human… Read more, Even though governance progress has also taken place over the five-year period (2017-2021), albeit at a slower pace, the latest three years tell us a different story. Between 2019 and 2021, COVID-19 has exacerbated concerning pre-existing trends and, as a result, Africa’s Overall Governance score has flatlined (at 48.9 out of 100.0). The pandemic… Read more, The continent’s worsening security situation and democratic backsliding are all the more concerning given the combined impacts of global, non-African born challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis. This is now exacerbated by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which started on 24 February 2022, and its particularly harsh indirect… Read more
2022 IIAG - Mo's thoughts
The 2022 Ibrahim Index of African Governance highlights that African governance has flatlined since 2019. Unless we quickly address this concerning trend, the years of progress we have witnessed could be lost, and Africa will be unable to reach in due time the SDGs or Agenda 2063. ~Mo Ibrahim, Founder and Chair, Mo Ibrahim Foundation… Read more
COVID-19 laid bare Africa’s weak health capacities
The IIAG Health sub-category mainly measures traditional health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDG targets such as child and maternal health and communicable diseases. It already incorporates health targets from the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 (‘Good health and well-being’) such as healthcare access (equality and affordability)… Read more, Health performance in the 2022 IIAG With a score of 58.3 (out of 100.0), Health is the third highest scoring out of the IIAG’s 16 sub-categories in 2021. Health has also been the third most improved sub-category over the decade 2012-2021, with 48 (out of 54) African countries following a positive trajectory in that period. Since 2012, the… Read more, Africa: IIAG Health Scores (2012-2021) , COVID-19 has exacerbated concerning pre-existing trends across whole IIAG Between 2019 and 2021, COVID-19 has exacerbated concerning pre-existing trends across the whole IIAG. As a result, Africa’s Overall Governance score has flatlined (at 48.9 out of 100.0). The pandemic impact has worsened the security situation even further, as well as… Read more, Long-standing gaps in Africa’s health capacities brought to the fore by COVID-19 As highlighted by MIF’s reports COVID-19 in Africa one year on: Impact and Prospects (2020) and COVID-19 in Africa: A challenging road to recovery (2021). The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the continent’s lack of capacity when dealing with… Read more, Hospital bed density (per 1,000 people) Only 11 African countries have at least one year’s worth of data over the ten-year IIAG time series (2012-2021). Using the latest data year available over that period, more than half (6) of those countries have one or fewer hospital beds available per 1,000 people.
Insight: Health in Africa and the IIAG results
When the nations of the world agreed on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, they recognised that strong governance was an essential underpinning for achieving the other goals. SDG 16 aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and… Read more
Facebook Live with Emilia Siwingwa and Georgie Ndirangu
On 22 February, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation hosted a Facebook Live session featuring Emilia Siwingwa, a human rights lawyer, and former BBC broadcaster Georgie Ndirangu, both members of the Now Generation Network. The discussion focussed on the findings of the 2022 IIAG and its implications for the African continent. One of the highlights of the… Read more, Another topic discussed during the session was the need for African leaders to focus on sustainability and foresight to future-proof the continent. Georgie Ndirangu argued that leaders and institutions must have the foresight to anticipate what people will need in 20 years’ time and work towards achieving those goals. This requires a long-term… Read more
Insight: Foundations for Economic Opportunity in Africa and the IIAG results
The 2022 IIAG depicts a mixed picture of Africa’s current status on governance. While some improvement has been made in certain categories, the overall trend is concerning, which might not be a surprise for those who have been closely following the continent’s economic development trend. I am of the view that better governance is not the end… Read more
African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA): intra- continental trade still the lowest globally
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), launched in January 2021, commits signatories to removing tariffs on 90% of goods for other signatories, to progressively liberalise trade in services and to address other non-tariff barriers. All African countries but Eritrea are signatories, and, 44 countries out of 54 have ratified the agreement… Read more, World Regions: Intra-regional Trade (2021) , African countries still mainly trade outside the continent Intra-continental trade constitutes less than 13% of Africa’s total trade, in comparison to 66.9% in Europe, 63.8% in Asia & Oceania, and 44.4% in the Americas. The dependence on external markets leaves the continent highly exposed to crises and shocks in other parts of the world,… Read more, World Countries: Region accounting for biggest share of trade (2021) , According to UNECA, the AfCFTA could boost intra-African trade by around 40%. By lowering these barriers, the hope is that intra-regional trade will increase and both spur economic transformation and increase resilience to shocks. , AfCFTA still a work in progress The AfCFTA is still a work in progress. With a score of 39.5 out of 100.0 in 2021, the Regional Integration indicator remains among the bottom quarter of IIAG indicators despite improvement over the last ten years (+1.8). Progress has been driven by greater government efforts to promote regional integration and a… Read more, RECs: Regional Integration indicator scores (2021) , Intra-continental transport is key A successful AfCFTA must be accompanied by progress in establishing transnational transport corridors. Specifically, it will be crucial to accelerate the development of the Programme for Infrastructure Development’s (PIDA) Trans-African Highway Network Programme, as well as Agenda 2063’s African Integrated… Read more, Digital platforms will be crucial to success The success of related digital platforms will also be instrumental to building intra-African supply chains. Afreximbank’s African Trade Gateway, an agglomeration of interrelated digital platforms, will be key to reducing the complexity of payment transfers within Africa. The Pan-African Payment and… Read more, World Countries: Access to electricity
Webinar recap: Governance in Focus - Regional Integration & the AfCFTA
On 6 April, Ben Chandler, Senior Researcher in MIF's research team, presented the economic findings from the 2022 Ibrahim Index of African Governance with a focus on what this means for trade and the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area. He was joined by, Ma Soukha Ba, a member of MIF's Now Generation Network (NGN) and a senior… Read more, The speakers outlined that there has been steady progress in the Foundation for Economic Opportunity (FEO) category, which has caused optimism, unlike other categories such as Participation, Rights & Inclusion or Security & Rule of Law that have not performed as well. FEO has followed a positive trajectory over the decade, improving by 3… Read more, RECs: Regional Integration indicator scores (2021) , What does the 2022 IIAG tell us about regional integration and the AfCFTA? The 2022 IIAG provides valuable insights into regional integration and the progress of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The IIAG assesses several indicators that can inform us about the success of the AfCFTA and whether necessary groundwork has been laid… Read more, World countries: Access to electricity , Of the 81 indicators in the IIAG, Mobile Communications (+21.8) and Internet & Computers (+16.9) have shown the most improvement over the decade. Ma Soukha Ba pressed the need for African countries to prioritise better infrastructure development, as highlighted by the African Union's master plan to develop connectivity corridors for… Read more
