Mo Index continues to highlight insecurity as a threat to East African countries

East African countries have seen their governance systems weakened by insecurity and other related challenges.

In the latest edition of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), governance, that is, the provision of the political, social, economic and environmental public goods to which every citizen is entitled, is seen as deteriorating.

For almost half of Africa’s population, living in 16 countries, rights performance in 2023 was worse than in 2014, and has declined since 2019.

In Kenya, this was exacerbated by Gen-Z-led protests from June over a controversial funding bill that was eventually withdrawn, leading to kidnappings and disappearances across the country.

The Index, published by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation since 2007, says Kenya has fallen sharply in “safety and security” since 2022.

“Kenya is also the sixth most improved country in terms of inclusion and equality, with an increase of +12.1 points in equal socio-economic opportunities,” the report said.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the 8th most backward country in terms of general governance on the continent. According to the 2024 IIAG report, at the subcategory level, the DRC recorded a decline in 12 of the 16 subcategories, the most severe of which was recorded in Security and Safety (-19.5), and the second in Participation (-7.4). .

Both declines are worrying as the country is Africa’s fourth most populous country.

At indicator level, the largest decrease is observed for ‘Absence of armed conflict (-47.0)’; the DRC ranks sixth in this indicator.

The country reported other notable declines in the absence of violence against civilians (-28.6), freedom of association and assembly (-25.0) and civil registration (-25.0).

In the wake of the DRC’s flawed, violent national elections in December 2023, serious clashes between the military and insurgents – particularly M23 and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) – continue in eastern DRC.

Clashes increased dramatically in February 2024, causing international outrage and a humanitarian crisis.

In March 2024, the UN reported that the number of internally displaced people in the DRC had reached 7.2 million – one of the largest in the world.

At the level of overall governance, the DRC ranks 48th in 2023, with a score of 32.8.

On the other hand, DR Congo recorded the most improvements in the areas of laws on violence against women (+20.0) and deliberative and participatory governance (+18.7).

Ethiopia is the second most deteriorated country in armed conflict, which has an impact on overall progress.

In terms of overall governance, Ethiopia has improved by +2.5 points since 2014.

The country performs slightly below the African average and will rank 29th in 2023.

Progress was made in 12 of the 16 subcategories, while Security and Safety deteriorated dramatically (-25.0).

Ethiopia’s two most decreased indicators are the absence of armed conflict (-63.0) and the absence of violence against civilians (-58.4). In the first case, Ethiopia is the second most fallen country after Burkina Faso and is in the bottom five (49th).

Both indicators have deteriorated even faster since 2019, in line with the escalation of violent conflict in the country since 2020.

A November 2022 cessation of hostilities agreement between the federal government and Tigray authorities, two of the main warring parties in the conflict in northern Ethiopia, ended active fighting in the Tigray region.

However, serious rights violations against civilians in Tigray continued throughout the year, especially in the western, northwestern and eastern zones of Tigray.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), as of September 2024, there were 2.9 million internally displaced people in Ethiopia due to conflict and more than 141,000 Ethiopian refugees and asylum seekers in neighboring countries.

On the other hand, Addis Ababa has made notable progress in women’s political power and representation (+42.7) and regional integration (+33.8). It is the most improved country for both indicators, especially since 2018.

According to the 2024 IIAG report, Somalia is on the right track, despite its still low ranking in the general government.

Somalia is the third most improved country (+6.8), despite remaining in 53rd place for most of the decade.

Somalia improved in 14 out of 16 subcategories, with double-digit increases in six: Public Administration (+20.1), Social Protection & Welfare (+19.6), Participation (+13.7), Sustainable Environment (+ 12.2), Rule of Law and Justice (+12.0) and Business and Labor Environment (+10.3).

Although security levels in Somalia have decreased between 2014 and 2023, this has been only marginal (-0.2) and largely driven by the Absence of Forced Migration indicator (-10.9).

Positively, within this subcategory the absence of violence against civilians has shown progress (+12.8).

Somalia has made significant progress above 50 points in decent housing (+53.8), which ranks the country fourth across the continent, and in law enforcement (+50.0).

Overall, the country has recorded double-digit progress on 28 indicators, with business and competition regulation (+10.0) at the bottom of these indicators.

Key democratic measures are among the top ten most improved indicators: Democratic Elections (+25.2) and Freedom of Association and Assembly (+25.0). At the same time, media freedom (-6.7) is among the ten most decreased figures.