The global rise of populism and the “strongman” is increasing authoritarianism in Africa, which is hindering progress in governance, businessman and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim said.
According to the latest edition of the Ibrahim Index on African Governance, 78% of Africans live in countries where security and democracy deteriorated between 2014 and 2023.
Ibrahim told the Guardian: “Africa is not disconnected from what’s going on in the world and we see the world order collapsing everywhere.” “We are seeing many people violate international law with impunity.”
“Unfortunately, I think moral standards are declining worldwide, and that applies to us in this part of the world as well. Look at how many ‘strong men’ there are around the world. Now it’s normalized. ”
Sudanese-born businessman Mo Ibrahim launched the index in 2007. Photo courtesy of Mo Ibrahim FoundationThe report said the results have stalled progress in governance across Africa, impacting health and education, but the results have not been uniform across the continent, with half of the countries experiencing an overall worsening of governance. The remaining half said they had made progress.
The survey, published every two years, measures the performance of African governments in the areas of security and law. Participation, rights and inclusion. economic opportunity. And human development includes health and education.
Security and safety deteriorated the most among the measures examined, but democracy, including participation, rights and transparency, also deteriorated.
Much of this deterioration is due to the crackdown on freedom of assembly, which has seen a “significant” reduction in the freedom of people in 29 countries to come together and share ideas, as well as civil society and freedom of speech, particularly digital Freedom of speech in the space is also being curtailed.
In the subcategory of security and safety, more than half of the continent’s population experienced an increase in violence over the past five years. Lack of safety was slowing progress in health, education, social protection, and sustainability, as well as economic opportunity.
The report highlighted 11 countries with “a worrying 10-year trend of worsening” due to ongoing conflict, including Sudan, which the United Nations described as “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history” . Congo and the Sahel region.
The top countries also experienced a decade of deterioration. Mauritius (2nd place), Botswana (5th place), Namibia (6th place) and Tunisia (9th place) still rank among the 10 highest scoring countries in 2023, but from 2014 to 2023. It is also one of the worst-performing countries.
However, the report also highlights rapid progress in overall governance by countries such as Seychelles, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Benin and Angola, which currently top the index.
The report also found that significant advances in infrastructure have been made thanks to the widespread use of mobile communications, the internet and energy access, as well as improved laws that protect women from violence and greater recognition and representation of women in politics and leadership. She said there had also been significant progress in equality for women.
Despite signs of progress in many countries, public perceptions of how well their governments are functioning are declining, particularly with regard to economic opportunity, security, and poverty.
Mr Ibrahim said this could be due to rising expectations and increased access to information from other parts of the world.
“This is a problem, because if this perception continues to fall, it means that people will become more and more dissatisfied…which creates stress in society, which leads to conflicts and other situations,” Ibrahim said. spoke.
