Ibrahim rings alarm bells on African democracy

With his recent survey of Africa's governments, Mo Ibrahim warned that some areas of governance have not improved in the last couple of years. The Ibrahim Index of Good Governance survey found that economic development and quality of life is improving in Africa. However, the survey has found that the areas of human rights, safety, and rule of law seem to be in decline or stagnant.

From the Guardian, writer Jonathan Glennie has this comment on the survey results.

With all this data and credibility at his fingertips, Ibrahim has chosen this moment to "ring alarm bells on democracy". The progress witnessed across the continent in recent years is slipping, according to his figures. Countries doing better economically, but where these alarm bells need to be sounded, include Gambia, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and Madagascar.

Worryingly, some African leaders can be heard muttering about a trade-off between development and rights, citing "the Chinese model".

There is certainly some truth in the idea that strong but not necessarily democratic government can be good for development, while participatory democracy can create problems. But it is worth remembering Matthew Lockwood's useful maxim (in his excellent book The State They're In): "Authoritarian rule seems to produce developmental outcomes that are either very good or very bad; democratic rule tends to languish in the middle". In Africa, it is hard to find an example of authoritarian rule that has achieved "very good" outcomes, though there are many examples of the opposite.

The key is accountability. Ibrahim makes the slightly exaggerated but nonetheless compelling claim that "poor governance is the only reason for slow progress" in Africa. The development of representative government in most countries in the world has been the most important means of allowing poor people more power over decisions that affect them – the power to vote for someone else, or the opportunity to meet and influence their representatives.

It would be a grave mistake to believe that because Africa has progressed economically and developmentally in the past decade, that is the only trajectory available to it in the future. On the contrary, shocks and struggles for power, often to do with resources, are more than likely to challenge this direction.

The latest Ibrahim Index on good African governance

Mauritius has the best performing government in Africa according to the latest Ibrahim Index of African Governance. The index is a service of the Ibrahim Foundation which was set up by African businessman Mo Ibrahim to  monitor government performance. Mo Ibrahim made a fortune in mobile phone technology in Africa and now he devotes some of his time and money to the foundation. 

The Ibrahim Index of African Governence weighs how effective a government is by several factors. Some of the factors include saftey, human rights, economic opportunity and development. The Ibrahim Foundation does not use poverty and health statistics in the index as they say the statistics are not comprehensive.  

The top five performing governments according to the Ibrahim Index are Mauritius, Seychelles, Botswana, Cape Verde and South Africa. The lowest ranking governments on the index are Somalia, Chad, Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Eritrea. You can go the foundation website to see the complete overview of the rankings.

From the Guardian, Mo Ibrahim has this commentary on the index.

The index is a comprehensive assessment of governance quality in Africa, across 88 criteria grouped into four main categories: safety and rule of law; participation and human rights; sustainable economic opportunity; and human development. These four together constitute the cornerstone of a government's obligations to its citizens.

As one would expect, results vary significantly across countries. However, there are important global trends that are cause for hope as well as concern. For a majority of countries, progress in economic and human development is significant. Improvements in these categories have been recorded in over 40 out of 53 African states. On economic management, on the provision of health, on welfare, improved governance is making a substantial impact on quality of life for hundreds of millions of people. Not only has there been overall progress in each of these important areas but, importantly, no country across the whole continent has seen its performance decline significantly. 

These are more than just numbers. I have seen first hand how critical these improvements are to Africans' daily lives and to their hopes for their families. Educational opportunities have supported the rise of the African middle class, the professional cadre of young people who are now willing and able to contribute to Africa's future prosperity. Provision of health services means that millions are now receiving the HIV treatment they need, and that millions of preventable deaths have been avoided. Improvements in economic management mean that trade, and regional trade, can increase, stimulating economic growth and providing millions with the opportunities to lift themselves out of poverty.

However, this progress is not reflected in the other two pillars of the index. Declines appear in what could be termed the political side of governance, namely rights, safety, and rule of law. These issues too are about people's lives. We are all too familiar with the drastic consequences of corruption, dysfunctional legal systems, and insecure and unsafe environments.

Again, no winner for the Good Governance award

Once again there will be no winner for the Mo Ibrahim African Good Governance Award. This is the second year in a row that no winner received the 5 million dollar award. When Sudan-born mobile phone businessman Mo Ibrahim initially set up the award he had intended for there to be some years when the award didn't have a winner.

From this Associated Press article that we found at Google News, we learn more about the award panel's decision.

But the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, based in London, said Sunday the prize committee, led by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan, had not selected a winner.

The foundation said "there had been no new candidates or new developments" since last year, when the panel declined to award the prize.

It is open only to democratically elected heads of state who have left office in the past three years.

The Ibrahim interview

Bob Geldof is getting good at editing publications. Sir Geldof had earlier edited an issue of a magazine, this week Geldof and Bono were given control of Canada's Globe and Mail. The special issue was used as a preview of the G-8 summit coming to Canada later this year.

As a part of this issue, the Globe and Mail had an interview with Mo Ibrahim, African businessman turned government watchdog. Ibrahim built a mobile phone network in Africa, then sold it billions. He is now using part of the money in a foundation that calls for good governance in Africa. The foundation issues an annual award for good governance but that award had no winner last year.

From the Globe and Mail, writer Gordon Pitts interviews Ibrahim.

Is the idea of good governance progressing in African states?

We see slow improvement.

Why is it happening?

The end of the Cold War was essential for Africa. The superpowers used to have client states, to which they’d say: “It doesn’t matter if you are a dictator or not, as long as you are in my camp – in the scramble for resources or votes in the UN or whatever.” It made for bad company. I think the Cold War was worse for Africa than colonialism.

Now, we are starting to notice the rise of the civil society in Africa. And new technology: There are 450 million mobile phones in Africa now, out of 950 million people, so it has really enabled people to communicate with each other.

Do you agree with those who say aid is the problem, not the solution?

In most part, it is a silly discussion. Whenever there is disaster or famine somewhere, we cannot stand by and watch. On HIV, malaria, Darfur, or Somalia, we need to help our brothers and sisters. So there is not much discussion about humanitarian aid.

And we must really focus on developmental aid. We need to deliver better aid and untied aid. Actually, we need to deliver aid to end aid. Nobody in Africa loves to be a beggar, or a recipient of aid. Everywhere I go in Africa, people say ‘when are we going to stand up on our feet?’

Africa as a continent is rich, but Africans as a people are poor. The answer is governance. We really need to get our act together to improve the quality of life of our people. Developmental aid will speed up this process.

What about just borrowing more capital from banks?

That is just a fantasy. Unfortunately, our malfunctioning banking system doesn’t deal with Africa. They think Africa is too risky. You cannot rely on Goldman Sachs or whoever to really help – those guys just love subprime mortgages and all the other crap.

We should also support projects that help economic integration. Africa is disconnected. Internal African trade is about 8 per cent of the trade total. In Africa, we have 53 little countries and we are intentionally determined not to communicate and trade and move goods between each other. It’s stupid.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/g8-g20/africa/mo-ibrahims-search-for-good-governance/article1562666/

Mo Ibrahim says some African states are not viable

African Mobile Phone tycoon Mo Ibrahim spoke at a two day conference promoting good corruption free government in the African continent. Ibrahim says that governments need to integrate or else their states would perish. Ibrahim urged conference attenders ask if their leaders are really serious about solving problems.

From Reuters writer Katrina Manson attended the conference and gives us some quotes from Ibrahim's speech.

"Some of our countries, and I'm really sorry to say this, are just not viable," the Sudanese mobile phone tycoon said.

"We need scale and we need that now -- not tomorrow, the next year or the year after."

Several overlapping regional groupings throughout the continent are trying to knit their economies closer together, but the pace and extent of integration is slower than hoped.

"Intra-African trade is 4-5 percent of our international trade. Why? This is unacceptable, unviable, and people need to stand up and say this," Ibrahim said.

"Who are we to think that we can have 53 tiny little countries and be ready to compete with China, India, Europe, the Americans? It is a fallacy."

The $5 million Ibrahim Prize, which has previously been awarded to outgoing presidents Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique and Festus Mogae of Botswana, was not awarded this year.

Judges led by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said although there were some credible candidates, they would not make an award. They did not explain why.

No award given for African good governance

African businessman Mo Ibrahim has a yearly award that recognizes a former politician for good governance. This year, Ibrahim could find no winners. The prize comes with a five million dollar award the highest prize of any such award. Festus Mogae, Botswana's former President and former president of Mozambique, Joaquim Chissano are past winners of the award.

From the BBC, we read more about the decision not to give an award this year and what it means for African politicians.

Mr Ibrahim said people could draw their own conclusions about why no prize was awarded this year.

But he said there was "no issue of disrespect" meant towards eligible candidates.

"The prize committee welcomed the progress made on governance in some African countries while noting with concern recent setbacks in other countries," said a statement from the panel which made the decision.

"This year the prize committee has considered some credible candidates. However, after in-depth review, the prize committee could not select a winner."

Former president of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, one of the panel-members, said that if there had been a similar award for former European leaders this year, it might have been equally difficult to select a worthy winner.

BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says Mr Ibrahim established the prize because well-run African democracies are not thick on the ground.

Mr Ibrahim argues that the prize is needed because many African leaders come from poor backgrounds and are tempted to hang on to power for fear that poverty is what awaits them when they give up the levers of power.