The Index provides full details of Gambia's performance across the four categories of governance as assessed by the Index: Safety & Rule of Law, Participation & Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development.
Established in 2007, the Ibrahim Index is the most comprehensive collection of quantitative data providing an annual assessment of governance performance in every African country.
Gambia's performance in the 2011 Ibrahim Index of African Governance:
- Gambia scores 52 (out of 100) for governance quality and is ranked 24th out of 53 countries.
- Gambia scores higher than the regional average for West Africa which is 51.
- Gambia scores higher than the continental average which is 50.
- At sub-category level, Gambia's highest rank is in Welfare (12th) and lowest in Accountability (44th).
- Over the past five years Gambia's overall governance quality deteriorated (between 2006 and 2010).
- Gambia is ranked 8th out of 16 countries in West Africa.
Gambia's category and sub-category scores:
Rank (of 53) Category / sub-category Country Score (100 = highest) African Average Score (100 = highest)
24th Overall 52 50
34th Safety and Rule of Law 46 53
34th Rule of Law 37 48
44th Accountability 25 43
33rd Personal Safety 40 44
29th National Security 84 78
25th Participation and Human Rights 44 45
26th Participation 40 42
35th Rights 34 43
18th Gender 60 51
20th Sustainable Economic Opportunity 52 47
30th Public Management 56 56
26th Business Environment 54 50
17th Infrastructure 35 31
15th Rural Sector 63 54
15th Human Development 64 56
12th Welfare 65 52
18th Education 59 51
24th Health 68 66
West Africa's performance in the 2011 Ibrahim Index of African Governance:
- West Africa is ranked 3rd for overall governance quality and Sustainable Economic Opportunity.
- West Africa performs more strongly in Safety & Rule of Law and Participation & Human Rights, ranking 2nd and scoring above the continental average.
- West Africa's poorest performance is in Human Development in which it is ranked 4th out of five regions.
- West Africa scores below the continental average in almost half of the Index sub-categories. However West Africa is the strongest region in Personal Safety and Rights.
- Cape Verde is ranked 1st in the region for governance quality and all four categories. Cape Verde is also ranked in the top ten in the continent for all sub-categories and in the top five for all categories. Cape Verde demonstrates balanced performance.
Overall results of the 2011 Ibrahim Index of African Governance:
The Index shows that countries that pursue a balanced approach to all dimensions of governance achieve the most success.
But the overall general trend in Africa is one of imbalance. Many countries have improved in both Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development, but this progress has not been mirrored in Safety & Rule of Law and Participation & Human Rights.
Key Index findings across the past five years (2006 to 2010) show that:
- Large differences in performances between countries and across categories are masked by the unchanged continental average of 50 for overall governance quality.
- The most striking improvements have been achieved by Liberia and Sierra Leone, two countries emerging from lengthy civil wars:
o Liberia improved across all four categories and 13 out of 14 sub-categories.
o Sierra Leone has also improved across all four categories.
- Countries that have consistently ranked in the top five for overall governance performance (Mauritius, Cape Verde, Botswana, Seychelles and South Africa) have, up to now, also performed highly in all four categories.
- Togo and Angola have also seen meaningful improvements:
o Togo's score has increased in all four categories, in particular Participation & Human Rights, which was Togo's weakest score in 2006.
o Angola has improved in three categories, in particular Participation & Human Rights and Human Development, which were Angola's weakest scores in 2006.
- Egypt, Libya and Tunisia demonstrate starkly the imbalance between weak performance in Safety & Rule of Law and Participation & Human Rights and strong performance in Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development. This imbalance between the countries' performance in Human Development and Participation and Human Rights might well have been a trigger for instability.
o While all three countries are ranked in the top ten in Human Development, with Egypt and Tunisia also ranked in the top ten for Sustainable Economic Opportunity, all three countries are ranked in the bottom half of the Index for Participation & Human Rights, with scores that are below the continental average.
- Category trends:
o Sustainable Economic Opportunity: 38 countries improved, three significantly. No country has declined significantly.
o Human Development: 48 countries improved. In the Health sub-category in particular all but two countries improved and neither of the two declines was significant.
o Safety & Rule of Law: 36 countries declined, one significantly.
o Participation & Human Rights: 39 countries declined, one significantly.
o The greatest declines in Safety & Rule of Law and Participation & Human Rights are substantially larger than the concurrent improvements in Sustainable Economic Opportunity and Human Development.
Commenting on the 2011 Index Mo Ibrahim, Founder and Chair of the Foundation, said:
"We have seen this year that Africa's young majority are no longer willing to stand for the selective approach to governance adopted by many of our continent's governments. Our young people are demanding a holistic, equitable and inclusive approach to the management of their countries. The Index findings echo these demands - achievements in economic management and human development, however striking, will not be realised if a democratic deficit persists. Africa's success stories are delivering the whole range of the public goods and services that citizens have a right to expect and are forging a path that we hope more will follow."
Top five in the 2011 Ibrahim Index:
1st Mauritius, 2nd Cape Verde, 3rd Botswana, 4th Seychelles, 5th South Africa
Bottom five in the 2011 Ibrahim Index: 49th Central African Republic, 50th Democratic Republic of Congo, 51st Zimbabwe, 52nd Chad, 53rd Somalia.