Nigeria ranks 35th on Mo Ibrahim index

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation, yesterday released the rankings of good governance in Africa for 2009 with Nigeria ranked 35th on the continent.

Nigeria scored below the West African regional average, which was 51.7 per cent and also scored below the overall continental average, which was 51.2 per cent .

The nation scored below the continental and regional averages in all four categories that constitute the Ibrahim Index. However in human development Nigeria’s performance was stronger in relation to the continent and the region as reflected by higher ranks in this category.

In the West African sub-region Nigeria, the largest country with the largest economy, was ranked below Sierra Lone and Niger. The country was ranked 11th in the West African sub-region at 46.46 per cent, with Sierra Leone (a nation just emerging from civil war) at 48.91 per cent and Niger at 46.59 per cent.

With Cape-Verde topping the list in the sub-region with 78.01 per cent, Ghana came second with an aggregate score of 65.69 per cent. The Republic of Benin, Mali and Senegal made the top-five best governed nations in West Africa.

Africa as a whole

Across the continent, Mauritius, Cape Verde and Seychelles made the top three, with southern African nations of Botswana, South Africa, Namibia following in that order as Ghana, Tunisia, Lesotho and the islands of Sao Tome and Principe completed the top-10 best governed nations on the continent. The continent’s major economies – South Africa and Nigeria – were ranked 68.41 per cent and 50.77 per cent respectively.

According to the foundation’s website, “the Index is a comprehensive ranking of African countries according to governance quality”. Funded and led by an African institution, the Ibrahim Index aims to be Africa’s leading institution on governance assessment that informs and empowers Africans to hold their governments and public institutions to account.

The Index also measures the delivery of public goods and services to citizens by governments and non-state actors. Using major indicators based on four pillars of safety and rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity, which is based on the country’s level of economic management, private sector, infrastructure and environmental and rural sector and human development, that comprises poverty, health and education.

The best and the worst

The 2009 index was extended to consider the entire continent, and not just the sub-Saharan region, following consultation considering the geographic and political links between all African nations. Mauritius tops the 2009 index, while Somalia is the worst governed country on the continent with a total score of 15.2 in the 52nd position, preceded by Chad, and Zimbabwe at 29.9 per cent and 31.3 per cent respectively. The southern African sub-region emerged as the best performing region, and the Central Africa region was adjudged the worst performing region.

Earlier in the week, Nigeria was ranked 38th in the list of African countries in the 2009 annual Index of Governance released by the Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Governance, making it the 16th worst governed nation on the continent.