Monday 5th October 2009
South Africa ranks fifth out of 53 African countries in latest
assessment of African Governance
2009 Ibrahim Index of African Governance shows that half of Africa’s 10
best performing countries are in Southern Africa
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA: The 2009 Ibrahim Index of Governance is
published today by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, an organisation committed to
supporting great African leadership. The Ibrahim Index is Africa’s leading
assessment of governance, established to inform and empower the continent’s
citizens.
The Ibrahim Index measures the delivery of public goods and services to citizens by
government and non-state actors across 84 indicators of governance. Those
governance indicators are grouped in four overall categories: Safety and Security,
Participation and Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity, and Human
Development. All 53 of Africa’s countries are then ranked according to their total
scores across the categories.
South Africa’s performance in the 2009 Ibrahim Index of African Governance:
 In 2007/08, South Africa scored 69.4 out of 100, and was ranked fifth out
of 53 African countries.
 Within the Southern African region, South Africa was ranked third.
 South Africa scored well above the Southern African regional average,
which was 58.1.
 South Africa also scored above the overall continental average, which
was 51.2.
 At category level, South Africa scored well above the continental average
in all four categories.
Across the Index:
 Mauritius tops the 2009 Ibrahim Index with a total score of 82.8, ranking
first in all four main categories. Cape Verde is ranked second with a total
score of 78.0. Seychelles is ranked third with a total score of 77.1, followed by
Botswana with a total score of 73.6. South Africa is ranked fifth with a total
score of 69.4.
 Somalia is the worst governed country on the continent, with a total
score of 15.2. In 52nd place, Chad has a total score of 29.9, while Zimbabwe
is third from bottom in 51st place with a total score of 31.3.
 Southern Africa is the continent’s best performing region, with an
average score of 58.1, followed closely by North Africa with an average
score of 57.7. West Africa is ranked third with an average score of 51.7,
followed by East Africa with a score of 46.9. Central Africa is the worst
performing region, with an average score of 40.2.
 Central Africa is the worst performing region across all four categories.
All seven Central African countries are ranked outside the top 20 in the 2009
Ibrahim Index, with all of them except Gabon performing below the average
for the continent.
Reflecting important structural and methodological improvements to the Ibrahim
Index over the last year, the 2009 Ibrahim Index includes a new framework for
assessing governance, and improvements to make the index more reflective of
current governance realities. For the first time, in 2009 the Ibrahim Index covers all
53 countries in Africa. It also includes data from 2008, making it more current than
any other assessment of African governance.
The full Board of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation convened in Cape Town this morning
for the launch of the third iteration of the Ibrahim Index. Mo Ibrahim, the founder and
Chairman of the Foundation, says:
“The 2009 Ibrahim Index gives us the clearest – and most current – snapshot of
governance performance on the continent we have ever had. With Southern Africa
outperforming North Africa, we can see a picture emerging that fundamentally
challenges our perceptions about Africa. Our objective is to generate debate about
what we can expect our governments to deliver in our name.”
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is supported by a research team at the Foundation,
headed by Dr Hania Farhan, a Technical Committee of representatives from key
African institutions, and Dr Daniel Kaufmann of the Brookings Institution, who coproduces
the Worldwide Governance Indicators. The Foundation also draws on the
expertise of an Advisory Committee of academics drawn from institutions across
Africa.
The Ibrahim Index of African Governance was created in recognition of the need for a
robust, comprehensive and quantifiable tool for citizens and civil society to track
government performance in Africa. The development of the Ibrahim Index reflects the
Foundation’s long-term commitment to support African ownership of the governance
debate, to develop capacity in African institutions, and to improve the quality,
reliability, and availability of data about Africa.

 A full media resource page including country specific news releases,
photographs and background materials is available for all media:
www.moibrahimfoundation.org

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