The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (ILAG) yesterday indicated that governance progress in Africa had stalled, and revealed a shifting landscape in the last four years.

A statement made available to newsmen in Lagos said that the ILAG, an annual publication of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which was released yesterday, showed that the African average overall governance score increased only slightly by +0.2 points to 50.1 points (out of 100.0) from 2011 to 2014.

It noted that there were considerable changes during the last four years at all levels of the Index, both at country and at category level.

The statement explained that the ILAG consisted of 93 indicators and provided a comprehensive assessment of governance performance for each of the 54 African countries.

It said that the 93 indicators fell into four categories of Safety and Rule of Law, Participation and Human rights, Sustainable Economic opportunity and Human development.

According to it, 21 countries, including five of the top 10, had deteriorated in overall governance performance since 2011.

It stressed that only six countries registered improvements across each of the four categories of ILAG – Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia and Zimbabwe.

The statement added that, at the regional level, the continental trend in overall governance masked varying performance and a widening range between the regions.

It stated that Southern Africa was 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, the report said, was the lowest ranked region with an average score of 40.9 – the only region that deteriorated since 2011.

It stressed that the marginal improvement in overall governance at the continental level was underpinned by positive performances in only two categories: Human Development, Participation and Human Rights.

According to the ILAG, both Sustainable Economic Opportunity (-0.7) and Safety and Rule of Law had deteriorated.

It quoted Mo Ibrahim, chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, as saying:

“While Africans overall are certainly healthier and live in more democratic societies than 15 years ago, the 2015 IIAG shows that recent progress in other key areas on the continent had either stalled or reversed.

“It shows that some key countries seem to be faltering. This is a warning sign for all of us. Only shared and sustained improvements across all areas of governance will deliver the future that Africans deserve and demand.”