Kenya rises on Mo Ibrahim African governance ranking
Sudanese-born entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim. PHOTO | FILE
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The IIAG 2014 report shows Kenya is closing in on several East African nations which have often held top positions in the governance ranking.
Kenya has reclaimed lost ground, to stand at position 17 in 2014 ranking in an annual African governance index.
The IIAG 2014 report shows Kenya is closing in on several East African nations which have often held top positions in the governance ranking. Overall, Kenya scored 57.4 points out of a possible 100, a slight growth from 53.6 last year when it ranked position 21. It was rank 25 in 2012.
This is two points above the continental average score of 51.6, but Kenya continued to lag the continent on personal and national safety where it was ranked 39 out of 52 African nations. The poor score on security is linked to the gun and grenade attacks by terror networks that have seen a number of western nations issue travel alerts on Kenya.
The recent ascendancy in ranking, the report says, was largely driven by Kenya’s performance in the category of human development where it ranked 16 out of 52 and economic opportunities where it was at position 11.
The report recognises Rwanda as the best governed country in East Africa, having garnered 60 points to stand at position 11 in Africa. It was closely followed by Tanzania (15), Kenya (17) and Uganda (19). Kenya overtook Uganda. Somalia was the worst-ranked country in the listing that showed even the best performers had slipped in at least one category over the past five years.
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.
The index is based on more than 100 indicators from more than 30 independent African and global sources. 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.
“Over the past five years, every one of the top five ranking countries has deteriorated in at least one category, demonstrating that even the highest performers need to remain vigilant and retain an ongoing commitment to the governance agenda,” Mr Ibrahim said in the foreword to this year’s report.
