Ibrahim Governance Index: Liberia Most Improved African Country

Written by Makula Dunbar

Oct 16, 2013

Liberia leads the table of biggest governance improvers in Africa since 2000, and has seen largest improvements in Safety & Rule of Law.

The 2013 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), released yesterday, revealed that Liberia is the ‘most improved country’ on the continent in terms of overall governance since 2000.

The top five most improved countries in the 2013 IIAG are all post-conflict countries: Liberia, Angola, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Burundi.

The 2013 IIAG provides full details of Liberia’s performance across four categories of governance: Safety & Rule of Law, Participation & Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development.

Since 2000, Liberia has shown its biggest improvement in the category of Safety & Rule of Law (a category in which many other African countries have seen recent deteriorations). Safety & Rule of Law measures judicial functions, accountability, transparency and corruption, property rights, personal safety and national security, among others.

Despite vast improvements since 2000, Liberia’s governance score remains below the continental average for Africa as well as the regional average for West Africa.