The latest edition of the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) places Cabo Verde as the second best country among 54 African countries, while Angola is at the bottom of the list, despite improvements.
Mauritius, with 77.2 points, tops the 2020 IIAG ranking, that measures criteria such as Security & Rule Of Law, Participation, Rights & Inclusion, Foundations For Economic Opportunity and Human Development.
Benefiting from improvements in the Economic Opportunity category, Cabo Verde has improved over the last decade, totalling 73.1 points.
The report indicates that the archipelago was the best performing country in West Africa.
Overall, the IIAG, which measures the quality of governance in Africa with data from the previous year, recorded a decline in 2019, for the first time since 2010, according to the report published on Monday, 16.
The overall average score decreased 0.2 points in 2019 to 48.8 from 49 points in 2018, due to the deterioration of three of the four categories analyzed by the Index.
However, over the decade, overall governance performance has progressed slightly, with improvements in Economic Opportunity and Human Development.
“New data delivers a clear warning: governance progress in Africa has slowed since 2015, and declines for the first time in 2019. Deterioration in participation, rights, rule of law and security threaten improvements achieved in economic opportunities and human development”, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation said.
“This is particularly concerning with the COVID-19 pandemic set to increase existing challenges and reduce hard-won gains”, it added.
With 60.4 points, well above the African average, São Tomé and Príncipe is the second best placed Portuguese-speaking country, in 12th place and the best in Central Africa.
Over the last decade, São Tomé had significant improvements in the categories of Economic Opportunity and Human Development.
Mozambique was in 26th position, slightly above average, but in a trend of deterioration.
The country totaled 49 points, less 0.2 than 10 years ago, with sharp declines in Security & Rule Of Law and Participation, Rights & Inclusion and improvements in the other two categories.
Guinea-Bissau is in 41st position and, according to the study, shows worrying signs of recent decline.
The country reached 41.4 points in 2019, 2.8 more than in 2010, but deteriorated in Economic Opportunity and Human Development, while improving in the other two categories.
The report indicates that Angola, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Seychelles, Sudan and Togo were the countries that managed to improve over the decade.
In the report, Angola is ranked 43rd, the worst in Southern Africa, though showing signs of increasing progress.
The country marked 40 points in 2019, 5.4 more than in 2010, and is the third African country that has improved the most in the last five years.
Photo: Praia, Cabo Verde
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