The 2013 IIAG provides full details of Gambia’s performance across four categories of governance: Safety & Rule of Law, Participation & Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development.
Gambia has registered its biggest score improvement since 2000 in the Human Development category. Human Development measures welfare, education and health.
The 2013 IIAG shows that 94% of Africans – including those in Gambia - live in a country that has experienced overall governance improvement since 2000.
The 6% of people living in a country that has experienced governance deterioration since 2000 are based in Madagascar, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Somalia, Libya and Mali.
Gambia’s performance in the 2013 IIAG:
·Ranks 22nd (out of 52) overall
·Scores 53.6 (out of 100), higher than the African average (51.6)
·Has improved by +4.0 since 2000
·Ranks 6th (out of 16) in the West African region
·Scores higher than the regional average for West Africa (52.5)
·Ranks its highest in the category Sustainable Economic Development (11th out of 52)
·Ranks its lowest in the category Participation & Human Rights (41st out of 52)
·Ranks its highest in the sub-category Rural Sector (6th out of 52) and ranks its lowest in the sub-category Participation (44th out of 52)
West Africa’s performance in the 2013 IIAG:
· West Africa ranks 3rd out of five regions at the overall governance level. This has been the case every year since 2000, except in 2011 when it ranked 2nd
· Seven out of the 16 countries in West Africa score above the continental average (51.6)
· Three West African countries (Cape Verde, Ghana, Senegal) rank in the top ten in 2012. Two countries (Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau) rank in the bottom ten
· West Africa’s overall score has increased by +5.6 since 2000. The region has shown improvements in all four categories since 2000: Safety & Rule of Law (+0.8), Participation & Human Rights (+3.1), Sustainable Economic Opportunity (+6.1) and Human Development (+12.2)
· West Africa and Central Africa are the only regions to have shown improvements across all four categories since 2000
·West Africa achieved its highest score since 2000 in 2011. It has experienced two periods of decline: 2002-2003 and 2011-2012
·Cape Verde is the highest-ranking country in the region, ranking 3rd (out of 52) overall and scoring 76.7
·Guinea-Bissau is the lowest-ranking country in the region, ranking 46th (out of 52) overall and scoring 37.1
Global results
The seventh Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), released Monday, confirms that overall governance continues to improve at the continental level. The countries that have experienced overall governance improvement since 2000 are today home to 94% of people living on the continent.
Since 2000, the strongest improvements at continental level are registered in the categories of Human Development, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and, to a lesser extent, Participation & Human Rights. Meanwhile the Safety & Rule of Law category has declined worryingly, showing year-on-year declines since 2010.
The IIAG shows a growing diversity in governance results on the continent. There is a widening span in performance between the best and worst governed countries; increasingly noticeable differences between the performance across different categories; and conflicting trends within the categories.
Mo Ibrahim, Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation said: “Neither Afro-pessimism nor Afro-optimism do justice to modern Africa. This is now the age of Afro-realism - an honest outlook on our continent. It’s about a celebration of its achievements but also a pragmatic acknowledgement of the challenges that lie ahead.”
