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The Ghana Center for Democratic Development-Ghana (CDD-Ghana) in collaboration with the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, yesterday, organized a roundtable discussion on oil wealth and governance.
The topic for discussion was “Governance in Africa’s Oil and Gas Exporting Countries: Evidence from the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG).
The Forum analyzed the quality of governance and the performance of Africa’s oil and gas exporting countries on the Ibrahim Index of African governance to provide meaningful lessons for emerging resource-rich countries on the continent.
Established in 2006 by Dr Mo Ibrahim, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation supports good governance and great leadership in Africa.
The Foundation works to provide a framework and tools by which citizens and governments can assess and measure progress in governance and recognize excellence in African leadership and provide a practical way in which leaders can build positive legacies on the continent after they have left national office.
The Foundation also works to stimulate debate on the quality of governance and major governance issues in Africa and to develop leadership and governance capacity in Africa.
One of the programme areas of the Foundation which was established in 2007—the IIAG— is the most comprehensive collection of quantitative data that provides an annual assessment of governance performance in every African country.
In a foreword to the 2011 IIAG, Dr Ibrahim, Founder and Chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, expressed the hope that the findings of the 2011 Ibrahim Index would help establish a constructive basis towards the achievement of an increasingly peaceful and prosperous Africa.
Dr Ibrahim said even though the Foundation was delighted to see evident economic growth across Africa, it was also concerned about the stagnation and, in many areas, the reversal in the rule of law and citizens’ rights.
He said if economic progress was not translated into better quality of life and respect for human rights, Africa would witness more rebellions and civic disobedience.
In the 2011 IIAG released by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Ghana has been positioned among the top ten, ranking 7th with 66 scores out of 100.
The four main categories of indicators used as proxies for the quality of the process and outcomes of the governance were Safety and Rule of Law; Participation and Human Rights; Sustainable Economic Opportunity; and Human Development.
Source: ISD (G.D. Zaney)
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