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The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), established in 2007, provides an annual assessment of the quality of governance in African countries. Compiled by combining over 100 variables from more than 30 independent African and global institutions, the IIAG is the most comprehensive collection of data on African governance. The IIAG provides a framework for citizens, governments, institutions and the private sector to accurately assess the delivery of public goods and services, and policy outcomes, across the continent. As well as being a tool to help determine and debate government performance, the IIAG is a decision-making instrument with which to govern. The Foundation defines governance as the provision of the political, social and economic goods that a citizen has the right to expect from his or her state, and that a state has the responsibility to deliver to its citizens. The IIAG assesses progress under four main conceptual categories: ''Safety & Rule of Law, Participation & Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity, and Human Development''. These four pillars are populated with data that cover governance elements ranging from infrastructure to freedom of expression and sanitation to property rights. The IIAG allows users to benchmark governance performance across a number of dimensions at the national, regional and continental levels. Scores and ranks are available for all years from 2000, enabling the analysis of trends over time. All of the underlying data used in the construction of the IIAG are freely available and transparently published alongside a comprehensive methodology.


History

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance is a key initiative of the
Mo Ibrahim Foundation The Mo Ibrahim Foundation was established in 2006. It was founded by Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese billionaire businessman and philanthropist, who founded the telecommunications company Celtel International in 1998. Ibrahim is the chairman. Other board ...
. It has been published annually since 2007, with launch events in various African cities, including
Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...
,
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
,
Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...
,
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
and
Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...
. The most recent iteration of the Index, the 2015 IIAG was published in October 2015. The index was initially produced in association with
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
; academic and technical assistance has subsequently been provided by a range of African academics and research bodies. The IIAG is designed as a tool for citizens, governments, institutions and business to assess the delivery of public goods and services, and policy outcomes, across Africa. It is an annual publication which receives extensive media attention from across the African continent and in the international media. The Ibrahim Index has been used by civil society and government bodies across the continent to monitor governance. One example is in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, where the party in opposition, the Democratic Alliance, used the Ibrahim Index to challenge the government's record on safety and security. In 2007, critique suggested that the Index was limited by its focus on the 48 Sub-Saharan African countries, ignoring
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
,
Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...
,
Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...
,
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
and
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. To be a fully representative Index of African Governance, as it claimed, it needed to expand its coverage to include North Africa. The 2009 index first included these countries. Aside from these five additions, the index first included
South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...
, which became a separate country in 2011, during its 2019 report.


Methodology

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) is an annually published composite index that provides a statistical measure of governance performance in African countries. Governance is defined by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation as the provision of the political, social and economic public goods and services that a citizen has the right to expect from his or her state, and that a state has the responsibility to deliver to its citizens. This definition is focused on outputs and outcomes of policy. The IIAG governance framework comprises four dimensions (categories): *Safety & Rule of Law *Participation & Human Rights *Sustainable Economic Opportunity *Human Development These categories are made up of 14 sub-categories, consisting of over 100 indicators. The latest IIAG is calculated using data from more than 30 independent sources. Annual refinements are made to the IIAG, which may be methodological, or based on the inclusion or exclusion of indicators. The entire IIAG data set is therefore retrospectively revised, in accordance with best practices. Comparisons between years should therefore be performed entirely on the 2013 IIAG data set.


Indicators

The latest IIAG comprises over 100 indicators, grouped into four broad categories: Safety & Rule of Law, Participation and Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development.


Safety and Rule of Law

The 23 indicators in the Safety & Rule of Law category are divided into four sub-categories:
Rule of Law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...
,
Accountability Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the publ ...
,
Personal Safety Human security is a paradigm for understanding global vulnerabilities whose proponents challenges the traditional notion of national security through military security by arguing that the proper referent for security should be at the human rather th ...
and
National Security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...
. Scores in this category range from 4.9 for
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
to 88.9 for
Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
in 2013. The Rule of Law sub-category includes five indicators:
Judicial Process Legal process (sometimes simply process) is any formal notice or writ by a court obtaining jurisdiction over a person or property. Common forms of process include a summons, subpoena, mandate, and warrant. Process normally takes effect by ...
,
Judicial Independence Judicial independence is the concept that the judiciary should be independent from the other branches of government. That is, courts should not be subject to improper influence from the other branches of government or from private or partisan inte ...
, Sanctions, Transfers of Power and
Property Rights The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership) is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typically ...
. The Accountability sub-category includes seven indicators measuring Accountability, Transparency & Corruption in the Public Sector, Accountability, Transparency & Corruption in the Rural Sector, Corruption and Bureaucracy, Accountability of Public Officials, Corruption in Government & Public Officials, Prosecution of Abuse of Office and Diversion of Public Funds. The Personal Safety sub-category includes six indicators measuring Domestic Political Persecution, Social Unrest, Safety of the Person, Reliability of Police Services, Violent Crime and Human Trafficking. The National Security sub-category includes five indicators measuring Cross Border Tensions, Government Involvement in Armed Conflict, Domestic Armed Conflict, Political Refugees and Internally Displaced People.


Participation and Human Rights

The 19 indicators in the Participation and Human Rights category are divided into three sub-categories:
Participation Participation or Participant may refer to: Politics *Participation (decision making), mechanisms for people to participate in social decisions *Civic participation, engagement by the citizens in government *e-participation, citizen participation ...
,
Rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
, and
Gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...
. Scores in this category range from 11.5 for Somalia to 81.7 for
Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...
in 2013. The Participation sub-category includes five indicators measuring Free and Fair Executive Elections, Free and Fair Elections, Political Participation, Electoral Self Determination and Effective Power to Govern. The Rights sub-category includes seven indicators measuring Core International Human Rights Conventions, Human Rights, Political Rights, Workers' Rights, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Association and Assembly and Civil Liberties. The Gender sub-category includes seven indicators measuring Gender Equality, Gender Balance in Primary and Secondary Education, Women's Participation in the Labour Force, Equal Representation in Rural Areas, Women in Parliament, Women's Rights and Legislation on Violence against Women.


Sustainable Economic Opportunity

The 30 indicators in the Sustainable Economic Opportunity category are divided into four sub-categories: Public Management, Business Environment, Infrastructure and Rural Sector. Scores in this category range from 2.3 for
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
to 79.7 for
Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
. The Public Management sub-category includes 11 indicators measuring Statistical Capacity, Public Administration,
Inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
, Diversification, Reserves, Budget Management, Ratio of Total Revenue to Total Expenditure, Fiscal Policy, Ratio of External Debt Services to Exports, Revenue Collection, and Soundness of Banks. The Business Environment sub-category includes six indicators measuring Competition Environment, Investment Climate, Investment Climate for Rural Businesses, Bureaucracy and Red Tape, and Customs Procedures. The
Infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
sub-category includes six indicators measuring Electricity, Roads, Rail Network, Air Transport, Telephone and IT Infrastructure, and Digital Connectivity. The
Rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...
Sector subcategory includes seven indicators measuring Public Resources for Rural Development and Land and Water for Low-Income Rural Populations, Agricultural Research and Extension Services, Agricultural Input and Produce Markets, Policy and Legal Framework for Rural Organizations, Dialogue between Government and Rural Organizations and Agricultural Policy Costs.


Human Development

The 22 indicators in the Human Development category are divided into three sub-categories: Welfare, Health, and Education. Scores in this category range from 13.1 for
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
to 92.2 for
Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...
in 2013. The Welfare sub-category includes nine indicators measuring the Welfare Regime, Social Protection & Labour, Social Exclusion, Welfare Services (Health and Education), Equity of public Resource Use, Access to Water, Access to Sanitation, Environmental Policy, and Environmental Sustainability. The Education sub-category includes seven indicators measuring the Educational Provision and Quality, Education System Quality, the Ratio of Pupils to Teachers in Primary School, Primary School Completion, Progression to Secondary School, Tertiary Enrollment, and Literacy. The Health sub-category includes six indicators measuring Maternal Mortality, Child Mortality, Immunization (Measles & DPT), Antiretroviral Treatment Provision, Disease (Malaria & TB), and Undernourishment.


Criticism

Some scholars have questioned the effectiveness of the Index and particularly the need for civil society to engage with its results, pointing out that there does not often exist in Africa a strong and effective civil society. Others maintain that such perspective ignores the important role that civil society is now beginning to play in African politics.


2019 IIAG Index

2020 Ibrahim Index of African Governance Report. Accessed Jan 10, 2021.


Previous IIAG Indexes


2013 IIAG Index

''*
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
and
South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...
are not included in the IIAG.''


2014 IIAG Index


2015 IIAG Index


References


External links


Current Ibrahim Index of African Governance Data
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahim Index Of African Governance Political corruption Politics of Africa Index numbers