THE 2011 IBRAHIM INDEX OF AFRICAN GOVERNANCE

So there I was going through my usual lunch time routine of checking Bella Naija whilst having some food. I stumbled upon a post about the Ibrahim Index and thought to read it as it seemed quite interesting.

What did I find out from the post? That Nigeria came 43rd within this index while Ghana was 7th and South Africa 5th. No surprise for these 2 I thought.

The next thing that came to my mind was Cameroon! I instinctively knew that we would not even have made the list and I thought if Nigeria was 43rd then were would Cameroon be?

Okay before we get to that part, let me tell you a bit about the Ibrahim Index produced by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

About the Mo Ibrahim Foundation:
Established in 2006, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation supports good governance and great leadership in Africa. The Foundation works to:

• Provide a framework and tools by which citizens and governments can assess and measure progress in governance.
• Recognise excellence in African leadership and provide a practical way in which leaders can build positive legacies on the continent when they have left national office.
• Stimulate debate on the quality of governance and major governance issues in Africa.
• Develop leadership and governance capacity in Africa.

About the Ibrahim Index:
Established in 2007, the Ibrahim Index is the most comprehensive collection of quantitative data that provides an annual assessment of governance performance in every African country.
It:-

• is funded and led by an African institution.
• is Africa’s leading assessment of governance.
• provides a framework and tools for citizens, public authorities and partners to assess progress in governance.
• compiles 86 indicators grouped into 14 sub-categories and four overarching categories to measure the effective delivery of public goods and services to African citizens.
• uses indicators from 23 data providers.
• is made up of over 40,000 raw data points.

Data:
The Ibrahim Index is currently compiled using various international and African sources. Many crucial indicators of governance, such as poverty, could not be included as the data are not sufficiently comprehensive. The future provision of robust data, including poverty statistics, from African sources is a core priority for the Foundation.

So would you like to know if Cameroon features on the index and if so at what number?
Well, ok, ok! See below!!

I am shocked at how possible we came a whole 3 places above Nigeria, the leading force in West Africa?!!

With Mauritius topping the index and Cape Verde, Botswana, Seychelles and South Africa coming 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively, Cameroon has a long way to go.

Well done to the rest of the countries topping the index, well done to the President of Cape Verde, Pedro Pires, for wining the $5m good governance prize and as for the bottom ones, please do more!

For more info about the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, go here. For the index, go here.

Stay sweet

Dulce

xxx