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Gender equality
Although major successes have been recorded with regards to the pursuit of a gender-equal world, the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to derail the progress made. The pandemic has had severe consequences on women’s health, economic and social wellbeing due to the intensification of prevailing inequalities and vulnerabilities. Despite… Read more, While Political Power & Representation of Women is the 10th most improved indicator across all 79 IIAG indicators, Laws on Violence against Women is the most declined of all indicators on the African average level. However, increasing improvements in the political power and representation of women and their access to public services and a… Read more, Seychelles claims the top spot in the ranking table for the Gender sub-category with a score of 82.5 in 2019, followed by Rwanda and Mauritius. Equatorial Guinea sits at the bottom of the ranking table, preceded by Somalia and Djibouti. The two lowest scoring countries in Gender are also the most declined and most improved countries over the… Read more
IIAG WASH findings
Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) play a pivotal role in protecting human health during all infectious disease outbreaks, including the current COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 IIAG dataset contains a specific WASH indicator, measuring how African countries are progressing towards the 2025 Africa Water Vision, Agenda 2030’s SDG 6 (Clean Water… Read more, Even though the continent has, on average, made progress in WASH both over the past ten years (2010-2019) and five years (2015-2019), the pace of progress in this IIAG indicator has slowed down in the latest five years with an annual average improvement of +0.30 compared to +0.43 over the decade. , When it comes to citizens’ perceptions about government provision of water and sanitation services, the analysis of Satisfaction with Water & Sanitation Services, a sub-indicator which is part of the IIAG’s new Citizens’ Voices (CV) section, shows that African citizens are increasingly satisfied (with an annual average improvement of +0.78… Read more
Renewable Energy in Africa
Africa is the continent with the lowest rates of energy access globally, so it faces the unique challenge of needing to develop its energy infrastructure amid a global climate crisis it did little to cause. Addressing this energy deficit requires the mobilisation of the continent’s vast renewable resources, as well as natural gas, the least… Read more, 22 African countries already use renewables as their primary source of electricity As it stands, zero-carbon electric grids remain very rare. However, 22 African countries use renewables as their primary source of electricity generation. On average, African countries use renewables for 40.5% of their electricity generation. This is higher… Read more, Some African countries are even leading the way globally in these figures. In Kenya, geothermal energy accounts for almost half (46.0%) of electricity generation, more than any other country in the world. In Namibia, almost one fifth of electricity (19.1%) is generated through solar, the fourth highest share globally. 21 of the… Read more, Energy Supply The energy supply accounts for all fuels and technologies used for generating electricity, powering industry, transport, and infrastructure, as well as domestic cooking and heating among other uses. Electricity Electricity only accounts for around one fifth of all energy consumed globally. It does not account for other forms… Read more, Fossil fuels still account for over half of the energy supply in Africa, though this is the least of any world region. By comparison, fossil fuels account for: Almost the whole energy supply in the Middle East (99.2%). Over three-quarters of the energy supply in Asia Pacific (84.0%) and North America (81.7%). Roughly two- thirds of the… Read more, Access to energy remains key challenge Country Renewables as a % of electricity generation (2019) Primary source of electricity (2019) Population, millions (2021) Access to electricity % (2020) Access to clean cooking fuels % (2020) Fossil fuels as % of exports (2021) Primary source of energy (2019… Read more, Table 1: African countries primarily using renewable electricity , Table 1: African countries primarily using renewable electricity Access to energy, rather than the transition away from fossil fuels remains the key challenge for African countries: In 16 of the 22 countries that primarily use renewable electricity, more than half the population still lack access to electricity. Overall, more than… Read more, Solar Africa has 40% of world’s potential but just above 1% of installed capacity Five of the ten countries at the global level with the potential to generate the most energy per solar panel are in Africa: Namibia (1st), Egypt (4th), Lesotho (8th), Libya (9th), Botswana (10th). Launched by the AfDB in 2021, the Desert to… Read more, World countries: average practical potential in photovoltaic solar output per installed unit (2020) , Wind Wind power is still to get off the ground in Africa, with the continent’s wind potential largely untapped. Full mobilisation of technical wind potential would increase electricity capacity more than 30-fold in Chad, Mauritania, Niger and Mali. Seychelles is among the ten countries across the globe with the highest per capita… Read more, Hydro Hydropower remains the continent’s primary renewable for electricity generation, accounting for 70% of the renewable electricity share. However, the full potential of hydropower on the continent is nowhere near being realised. Grand Inga, in the DR Congo, could produce up to 40,000 MW of electricity, twice the power… Read more, Geothermal 21 African countries have known resources, that are mainly unexploited. In Ethiopia and Kenya, geothermal could more than triple current electricity capacity. Ethiopia and Kenya are among the 10 countries at global level with the largest public investment in geothermal electricity. , Green hydrogen Green hydrogen has been gaining traction in recent years due to its potential in the automotive, industrial and construction sectors. While not a feasible short-term solution to Africa’s pressing energy needs, the continent has long-term advantages that place Africa at the forefront of a green hydrogen future. In… Read more
Rule of Law and Equal Access to Justice
According to the World Justice Project (WJP), the COVID-19 pandemic has hit at a time of a global rule of law crisis and principles of good governance have eroded in many countries over the past years. WJP identifies four areas of rule of law that have directly been affected by COVID-19: Access to justice for all Accountable… Read more, Meanwhile, despite a positive trajectory over the decade, both Rule of Law & Justice and Accountability & Transparency have shown warning signs in the latest five years. Progress in Accountability & Transparency has stalled, leading it to become the IIAG’s lowest scoring sub-category in 2019. Rule of Law & Justice has even… Read more, Five countries have improved in all these sub-categories both over the 10-year as well as over the 5-year period: Angola, Gambia, Morocco, Seychelles and Sierra Leone. Seven countries have declined in all these sub-categories over both time periods: Comoros, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Namibia and Zambia. , Equal access to justice under threat Over the past decade, judicial processes on the continent, including access to and enforcement of justice, as well as the fairness and timeliness of processes have deteriorated and equality before the law has also worsened. , At the same time, the provision of equal civil liberties has declined for women, low income groups, rural dwellers and different marginalised social groups. Additionally, discrimination protection mechanisms remain weak despite improvements over the decade. Protection against Discrimination is the IIAG’s lowest scoring indicator (out of 79) in… Read more
Social justice
Sustainable development cannot be achieved without social justice – defined as the fair and compassionate distribution of the fruits of economic growth. In a globalised world, a strong social dimension is needed in order to achieve improved and fair outcomes for all. To attain this, barriers related to exclusion and inequality,… Read more, A deterioration in the equal provision of civil liberties, along with a decline in equal political representation and the promotion of socioeconomic integration of youth have driven the downwards trajectory in Inclusion & Equality. While women’s civil liberties have also deteriorated relative to men’s, socioeconomic opportunities and access to… Read more, Seychelles is the only country to feature among the top five performers regarding both women’s civil liberties and women’s socioeconomic opportunities in 2019. Rwanda ranks among the top five countries for the provision of equal civil liberties and socioeconomic opportunities for women but is only the 40th most equal in Africa when it comes… Read more, Social Protection scores vary widely across the continent. While Algeria, the highest scoring country, receives a score of 82.2 in 2019, Central African Republic, the lowest scoring country, receives a score of 9.6. Alongside Algeria, two other Northern African countries – Tunisia and Egypt – and two island states, Mauritius and Seychelles… Read more
Statistical capacity, civil registration and the development agendas
An increased demand for data, but a still weak statistical capacity in Africa The UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs) and African Union’s Agenda 2063 are the two main overarching frameworks containing the commitments of African countries to sustainable development and inclusive growth for the next decades. To… Read more, Statistical capacity, civil registration and COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted fundamental data gaps in Africa even more, particularly in relation to health and civil registration. Poor data coverage of health facilities and health outcomes on the continent negatively impacts the crucial timely production of statistics during… Read more, At the sub-indicator level, even though the 2019 African average score for Death Registration is higher than that of Birth Registration (60.2 and 59.7, respectively), they are displaying opposing trajectories. While birth registration has improved in Africa both over the ten and five years, and has done so at an even faster pace in the latter… Read more, To build forward better, paving the way for a resilient and green Africa that overcomes the COVID-19 crisis and achieves the goals and targets of Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063, there is no doubt that African countries will have to prioritise building their statistical and civil registration capacities. It is the only way to leave no one behind.
Trade data and findings from the IIAG
With the long-awaited launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in January 2021, trade is at the centre of the debate around Africa’s COVID-19 recovery. The global economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic and has sent the African continent into a historic recession, with 41 countries experiencing a decline in their… Read more, Africa’s growth model heavily relies on external demand for primary commodities, that act as a source of revenue and foreign exchange for both governments and the private sector alike. However, this leaves economies highly sensitive to fluctuations in global demand. Finished products also tend to be imported from overseas, leaving the continent… Read more, The AfCFTA as a vehicle for structural transformation In committing signatories to the removal on 90% of tariff barriers, it is hoped the AfCFTA will act as a vehicle of structural transformation, spurring intra-regional trade and building African supply chains for key goods. However, the implementation of the AfCFTA is not just about… Read more, Administrative efficiency is also essential to facilitating smooth cross border trade. Concerningly, progress in the Public Administration (+0.1) sub-category since 2010 has almost stalled, with a decline in budgetary and financial management, as well as the capacity of national statistics systems offsetting progress in other areas such as… Read more
Navigating Elections in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities
The upcoming elections throughout Africa in 2024 present a critical juncture for democratic processes across the continent. In this blog Dr Adeelah Kodabux, Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Middlesex University Mauritius, and Patrick Godi, Youth Representative at the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (… Read more
Webinar Recap: 2024 – Year of Elections in Africa
On Friday, 9 February 2024, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation organised a webinar discussing the massive year of election in Africa in 2024 as well as the world. The webinar served as an opportunity to highlight how monumental this year is in the governance of Africa and some of the key challenges related to elections in Africa. The webinar… Read more
Guest blog: Unpacking Africa’s youth perspectives
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. More than 100 young African experts from the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s Now Generation Network (NGN) have recently been surveyed on their opinions on Africa’s financing agenda in order to explore… Read more
