African governance gains slowing, Somalia ranked bottom - index

Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation - Mon, 29 Sep 2014 13:35 GMT

Author: Thomson Reuters FoundationMore news from our correspondents

A displaced Somali woman carries a child as she arrives at a temporary dwelling after fleeing famine to the capital Mogadishu, September 20, 2014. REUTERS/Feisal Omar

(Recasts, updates with quotes from news conference)

LONDON  (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - African governance standards are gradually improving but there are warning signs of backsliding, an annual index on the way countries are governed showed on Monday.

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance ranked Somalia lowest, coming bottom in all four categories: safety and rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity and human development.

Mauritius kept the top spot, followed by Cape Verde, Botswana, South Africa and the Seychelles, all of which were in the top five last year.

Mo Ibrahim, the Sudanese telecoms tycoon who founded the index, welcomed the fact that 13 out of 52 countries had improved in overall governance as well as political, social and economic governance over the past five years.

"The picture is mixed," Ibrahim told a news conference. "Governance has improved across Africa but we need to remain vigilant and not get complacent."

Sustainable economic opportunity, a measure of how governments deliver policies conducive to growth, declined in the past five years following improvements from 2005 to 2009.

Festus Mogae, a former president of Botswana, said this was a big challenge for Africa.

"It's a great worry because it has resulted in high unemployment, especially among our youth," Mogae told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"African governments must think of how they can grow their economies so that there are acceptable levels of employment."

More and more Africans are going to school and university, he said, but job creation had not been keeping up with the supply of skilled labour.

AFRICA RISING ... SLOWLY

Ibrahim cautioned that even the highest performers had deteriorated in at least one index category, a sign that they had to stay committed to the governance agenda to maintain hard-won gains.

"Africa is rising but it's rising slowly," he said.

Mauritius, South Africa and the Seychelles slipped in the safety and rule of law category, Cape Verde in human development and Botswana in sustainable economic development. South Africa also deteriorated on human rights.

Ivory Coast, Guinea, Niger, Zimbabwe and Senegal improved most in overall governance, while Egypt, Libya, Guinea-Bissau, Central African Republic and Mali deteriorated most.

Southern Africa scored the highest regional average, with Namibia and Lesotho joining Mauritius, Botswana and South Africa in the top 10.

Central Africa got the lowest regional average, with Central African Republic coming in just ahead of Somalia in the overall ranking and Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Congo also among the 10 bottom-ranked countries.

The index is based on more than 100 indicators from over 30 independent African and international sources. (Reporting By Astrid Zweynert; Editing by Alisa Tang and Ros Russell)