Sub-Saharan Africa

Mauritius

  • Mauritius
    Mauritius Only "Very Stable" African Country, According to Fragile States Index
    The Fund for Peace, a non-governmental organization, publishes each year its Fragile States Index. The index compares the social, economic, political, and security challenges facing 178 countries. The Index provides a vocabulary for discussion of these challenges. A primary purpose is to improve early warning for conflict, promote improvements in governance, and recognize social and economic progress. African states have tended to be toward the bottom of the list. However, this year’s Index accorded Mauritius “very stable” status, essentially the same as the United Kingdom or the United States. This is a first-time for an African state. The Index also listed Botswana and the Seychelles as “stable,” the next highest category. Ethiopia, Gambia, and Kenya, all of whom emerged from recent political tumult, were among the Index's most improved states, though they still are among the world's most fragile states. The Index’s finding underscore the diversity characteristic of Africa. If Zimbabwe, Somalia, eastern Congo and parts of the Sahel are wracked with violence, Botswana, Mauritius, and Seychelles are characterized by democracy, protection of human rights, and social and economic progress. It is true that Mauritius, Seychelles, Botswana are all small states with relatively little internal fractures. Governance has been consistent, with less alienation of the governed from the government that is so characteristic of other parts of Africa. None have suffered from the “oil curse,” and in all the security services have only a small footprint. However, South Africa, a large country with the continent’s most developed economy also scores well, despite its history of apartheid and ongoing extreme wealth inequality.   
    Blog Post by John Campbell April 12, 2019 Africa in Transition
  • Sub-Saharan Africa
    Mo Ibrahim Prize for Governance and the Ibrahim Index
    Sudanese-born telecommunications entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim addresses participants during the launch of the 2008 Ibrahim Index of African Governance in Addis Ababa, October 6, 2008. (Irada Humbatova/Courtesy Reuters) The Mo Ibrahim Foundation on October 10 awarded former Cape Verde president Pedro Verona Pires its 2011 prize for Achievement in African Leadership. At the same time, the foundation published its index of the state of government in Africa. The top five (best) were Mauritius, Cape Verde, Botswana, Seychelles and South Africa. The bottom five (worst) were the Central African Republic, Congo, Zimbabwe, Chad, and Somalia. The foundation awarded the leadership prize to Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique in 2007 and to Festus Mogae of Botswana in 2008. But, in 2009 and 2010, the Ibrahim Foundation was unable to find a former African chief of state who met the prize’s criteria. The absence of a winner for two years in a row was widely taken as an indictment of the quality of African leadership. Pires only became eligible for consideration this year when he left office upon the conclusion of his second term. He not only presided over the economic transformation of Cape Verde – it is the only African country in the past decade to ‘graduate’ from the UN’s ‘least developed’ category – he resisted calls that he amend the constitution so that he could run for a third term. Cape Verde is a functioning democracy: Freedom House characterizes the country as ‘free’, and it is the only country to get Freedom House’s top score for both political and civil rights. In its statement congratulating Pires, the U.S. Department of State highlighted Pires’s role in Cape Verde’s successful transition from one-party to multi-party governance. The Mo Ibrahim prize is rich. The laureate receives an initial payment of five million dollars U.S. and an annual payment for life of two hundred thousand dollars. The Ibrahim Governance Index statistically monitors African governance using fifty-seven criteria divided into four categories: safety and the rule of law, participation and human rights, economic opportunity, and human development. As Mo Ibrahim intended, the index is used by civil society groups to hold governments accountable. Notably, the Democratic Alliance in South Africa has criticized the Zuma government for South Africa’s relatively low score with respect to personal security. It is possible to quibble with any index. Nevertheless, it strikes me that the Ibrahim Index is particularly successful in identifying the best and the worst. It is striking that three of the index’s highest performing nations are islands – Mauritius, Cape Verde, and Seychelles. All three have relatively small populations, relatively high incomes, and are integrated into the international economy. Botswana’s population is also very small and largely consists of a single ethnic group. The country has immense resources that have been carefully managed from the beginning. (Since independence, Botswana’s democracy has been uninterrupted.) South Africa, of course, is the continent’s economic power house. But, the country’s population is large and divided by race, class and ethnicity; its high score highlights the relative success of its post-apartheid governance. All five are encouraging examples of the growth of good governance and democracy in Africa.
    Blog Post by John Campbell October 13, 2011 Africa in Transition