Did you know that Nigeria, along with ten other African countries, has seen its way of governing get worse in the past ten years? This started way back in 2014.
There’s a new report called “2024 Ibrahim Index of African Governance” from the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, and it shows that Nigeria has dropped from 30th place to 33rd place among African countries on this list.
The report says that 33 African countries got better at governing in the last ten years. But, 21 countries have gotten worse at governing by 2023 compared to 2014.
Out of these 21 places, Nigeria, along with countries like Sudan, Senegal, and Uganda, are in a special group of 11 countries. These countries have had the biggest drops in good governing, especially in the last few years.
What the report says: “Over the past ten years, 33 countries, which have just over half (52.1%) of Africa’s people, have gotten better at governing. For 13 of them, like Libya and Zambia, there’s been even more improvement in the latter part of those years.”
“For the other 21 countries, with 47.9% of Africa’s people, the way of governing got worse by 2023 compared to 2014. In 11 of these places – like Nigeria, Botswana, and Sudan – where almost a third (29.3%) of people live, things have gotten even worse in the last few years.”
How is Africa doing overall?
The report notes that nearly half of the people in Africa live in places where governing has gotten worse over the decade. Bad security is stopping any progress. Troubling events, like the troubles in West Africa and Sudan, have added to the problem and made it dangerous in Africa.
- But, good news: In 2023, things like mobile phones and energy got better for around 95% of Africans!
- Health, schools, and doing business also got better.
- However, people still don’t feel happy about changes. Many think things are not as good, except when it comes to women leading.
- People’s disappointment might come from wanting more from countries that are improving and focusing on problems more than on success.
Where things got worse
The report says Nigeria fell back in 10 out of 16 areas, and five of those areas fell more than 5 points.
Security and Safety fell the most, dropping 11 points. This makes Nigeria one of the 10 countries that have seen the worst drops in the last ten years and puts it among the lowest five in 2023.
Under the section for specific indicators, Nigeria saw big drops in stopping armed conflict, going down by 49.8 points. This placed Nigeria as the fifth worst in this area and at the very bottom in 2023, ranked 54th.