Annual appraisal says rule of law is deteriorating across the region, where Central African Republic, South Sudan and Somalia are worst performers

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

More than a third of African countries are backsliding on governance, the 2015 Ibrahim index showed on Monday.

Some 21 of the 54 states ranked, including five of the top 10, have deteriorated in overall governance performance since 2011, the annual index found.

The top three countries in the index remain Mauritius, Cape Verde and Botswana. The bottom three are Central African Republic (CAR), South Sudan and Somalia.

South Sudan and CAR made the biggest drops in this year’s index, followed by Mali.

“Africans overall are certainly healthier and live in more democratic societies than 15 years ago,” said founder Mo Ibrahim, the Sudan-born telecoms tycoon.

However, “the 2015 Ibrahim index of African governance shows that recent progress in other key areas on the continent has either stalled or reversed, and that some key countries seem to be faltering,” he said.

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“This is a warning sign for all of us. Only shared and sustained improvements across all areas of governance will deliver the future that Africans deserve and demand.”

Ibrahim launched the index in 2006 in a bid to help countries measure and improve their performance.

It ranks countries according to 93 indicators grouped under four categories: safety and the rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity and human development.

Launched in London, this year’s index includes Sudan and South Sudan for the first time, enough separate data having been amassed since South Sudan’s secession in 2011.



The Mo Ibrahim Foundation separately awards the Ibrahim prize for achievement in African leadership – the world’s biggest such prize, worth $5m (£3.29m) over 10 years, then $200,000 annually for life thereafter.

Given to retiring good leaders, suitable candidates have only been found in two of the last six years. Former Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba was awarded the prize in March.