Tanzania has been ranked in the 17th position out of 52 African countries in the 2013 Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance (ILAG).
Mo Ibrahim says only exceptional leaders will get the prize
According to the seventh ILAG released, Tanzania scored 56.9 per cent (out of 100) higher than the African average (51.6 per cent) in the governance categories namely Safety and Rule of Law, participation and Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development.
It is ranked in the third position in the East Africa Region with an average of 47.9 higher than the regional average for the region.
“Tanzania has shown its biggest improvement in the category of Human Development on welfare, education and health,” says the report, adding that it (Tanzania) has improved by +1.4 since 2000.
The reports indicate that Tanzania scooped the 12th position in Participation and Human Rights, the highest score in the category. Seychelles is ranked in the top ten in the 2013 ILAG while Eritrea and Somalia rank at the bottom ten. Meanwhile, East Africa is ranked 4th out of five at the overall governance level.
This has been the case every year since 2000. East Africa’s overall score has improved by +3.6 since 2000. Three categories have shown improvements since 2000: Participation & Human Rights (+1.5), Sustainable Economic Opportunity (+3.3) and Human Development (+11.0). East Africa had its highest overall score since 2000 in 2012. The region declined in three periods: 2006-2007, 2007- 2008 and 2010-201.
The overall governance continues to improve at the continental level. The countries that have experienced overall governance improvement since 2000 are today home to 94 per cent of people living on the continent.
Since 2000, the strongest improvements at continental level are registered in the categories of Human Development, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and to a lesser extent, Participation and Human Rights.
Meanwhile, the Safety and Rule of Law category has declined worryingly, showing year-on-year declines since 2010. The IIAG shows a growing diversity in governance results on the continent.
Here is a widening span in performance between the best and worst governed countries; increasingly noticeable differences between the performance across different categories and conflicting trends within the categories.
Mo Ibrahim, Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation said: “Neither Afro-pessimism nor Afro-optimism do justice to modern Africa.
This is now the age of Afro-realism – an honest outlook on our continent. It’s about a celebration of its achievements, but also a pragmatic acknowledgement of the challenges that lie ahead.”
