Overview
The
Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) provides a yearly valuation of the
quality of governance in 54 African countries. This index is a laudable effort,
as it provides a statistical means to measure performance of African countries
in governance. IIAG is divided into 4 categories, such as (a) Safety & Rule
of Law, (b) Participation & Human Rights, (c) Sustainable Economic
Opportunity, and (d) Human Development. These 4 categories are further divided
into 14 sub-categories, which comprise of 95 indicators. All these categories,
sub-categories and indicators measure one overall governance performance in all
African countries. The index covers from 2000 till date.
The
data for the index include various sources, such as official data, expert
assessments and citizen surveys, provided by over 30 independent global data
institutions. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has claimed that IIAG is “the most
comprehensive collection of data on African governance.” This claim is yet to
be confirmed by experts and researchers.
However,
IIAG is an open source index, which means that it is available for download and
use free. This is great news, isn’t it? With this index citizens of Africa will
be able to see how well or poorly their countries perform in terms of
governance indicators; hence will be better equipped to engage the government
and politicians, particularly during elections. Thus this will mean better
transparency and accountability. Also researchers and policy makers in Africa,
and perhaps outside Africa, will have alternative sets of data on African
governance that will serve as instruments for decision-making; hence providing
governments with better options with which to govern. This will mean better
policy-making.
For further information on IIAG, click here.
To download IIAG, click here.
