Governance in Africa declining - Mo Ibrahim Foundation

ITRealms:

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) has decried declining governance values in the continent of Africa, reports ITRealms.

The official IIAG report Tuesday to ITRealms, the index says that in over the last four years, governance progress in Africa has stalled, thus revealing a shifting landscape. 

During the period 2011-14, the report said, the African average overall governance score in the IIAG increased only slightly by +0.2 points to 50.1 (out of 100.0), with considerable changes in performance during the last four years at all levels of the Index, both at country and at category level.

ITRealms recalls that report published annually, the IIAG provides a comprehensive assessment of governance performance for each of the 54 African countries. The 2015 IIAG consists of 93 indicators which fall into four categories: Safety & Rule of Law, Participation & Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development.

“Twenty-one countries, including five of the top ten, have deteriorated in overall governance performance since 2011. Only six countries register an improvement across each of the four categories of the IIAG: Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia and Zimbabwe,” part of the report read.

At the regional level, IIAG stated the continental trend in overall governance masks varying performances and a widening range between the regions. 

“Southern Africa remains the best performing region, with an average score of 58.9, followed by West Africa (52.4), North Africa (51.2) and East Africa (44.3). Central Africa is the lowest ranking region with an average score of 40.9, and is the only region to have deteriorated since 2011,” the report showed.

As stated by IIAG, the marginal improvement in overall governance at the continental level is underpinned by positive performances in only two categories, Human Development (+1.2) and Participation & Human Rights

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms)  
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PACCI’13 to link up regional economies

ITRealms:

Taking front row at this year’s Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PACCI’13) is the goal to link up the Regional Economic Communities (REC) across the continent of Africa, who are already actively engaged in the process of supporting investments at sub-regional levels.

ITRealms gathered that though the private sector supports the Continental Free Trade Area (C-FTA) initiative, PACCI lamented that the RECs are yet to take ‘ownership’ and ‘invest’ into the process as part of its own regional and continental agenda.

PACCI opined that until the aforementioned happen, the prospects for complete public-private sector participation in these continental liberalisation processes will be limited.

Also, PACCI plans to serve as a forum in which private sector positions are developed and presented to the various working groups, international conferences, and ministerial and heads of State sessions of the Africa Union (AU).

Meanwhile, ITRealms recalls that at the forthcoming 2013 Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PACCI) conference top on its agenda is the implementing efficient trade policies.

Further investigations by ITRealms showed that PACCI’13 conference being organized by African Chambers of Commerce and Industry on November 28^th and 29^th 2013, and is also expected to advance the Continental Free Trade Area (C-FTA).

This, PACCI affirmed in a press statement made available to ITRealms that despite the unease with free trade in many corners of the world, just as PACCI considers free trade to be good for development.

“Free trade can increase income levels, jobs, and bring in growth and prosperity. In all likelihood, PACCI believes that the discomfort with free trade lies not in the notion of free trade itself but how trade liberalization is pursued worldwide, too often linked with hypocrisy, guilt by association, democratic deficit and disregard for inequality,” official told ITRealms.

In addition, the conference is expected to address relevant issues to a modern trade and investment environment, from ambitious new market access opportunities to clear rules for African businesses and investors.

These include mainstreaming and implementing coherent and efficient trade policies; reducing costs and time for moving goods to destinations; creating regional and continental value chains, increasing local production and trade in goods produced in Africa; developing innovative mechanisms for multi-country infrastructure projects, such as energy, transport, telecom etc; developing African Financial institutions/mechanisms to support intra-African trade and investment; and promoting intraregional harmonisation of regulations and factor mobility. 

Remmy Nweke

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