Bloom off the Rose?

REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya
 

Published July 15, 2016.


Everybody's heard that African economies — well, many of them, anyway — have been on a growth tear since the turn of the millennium. Meanwhile, the quality of governance in Africa (as measured by the average score of 50-plus countries between 2000 and 2008 on the highly respected Ibrahim Index) followed along. Yet since 2008, this average score has hardly budged — a troubling trend that may presage economic troubles ahead.

What's happened? The index is composed from 93 indicators that fit broadly into four categories: human development, participation/human rights, safety/rule of law, sustainable economic opportunity. The first two are still trending upward, but safety and economic opportunity are both slipping. Happily (or unhappily, depending on which countries you're rooting for), there's a lot of variation on the list. All of the data used in the index, by the way, can be downloaded free from the index website.

lists bloom off the rose2

main topic: Region: Africa
related topics: Development, Economy