In terms of governance, the Ibrahim Index of Governance in Africa (Iiag), which assesses the performance of 54 African countries, ranks Senegal in 9th place, with a score of 62.4/100. An overall governance score deemed satisfactory over the past ten years (period between 2012 and 2021). But over the past five years, that is, from 2017 to 2012, that progress has slowed.
In the ranking of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance 2022, Senegal is positioned in the top 10. Among the 54 African countries whose governance performance has been assessed by the IIAG, Senegal ranks at the 9th place, with a score of 62.4/100. « Since 2012, Senegal’s score has improved in three of the four categories, namely Security and Rule of Law, Foundation of Economic Opportunity and Human Development, » notes the IIAG published by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.
With regard to Security and Rule of Law, Senegal has obtained over the past ten years a score of 67.1/100 in 2021. With regard to the category relating to the Foundation of economic opportunities, the score achieved is 60.8/100.
The report also notes that “since 2012, Senegal’s score has improved in 9 of the 16 subcategories. It improved in all subcategories of the Human Development category. The category in which the most subcategories deteriorated is Participation, Rights and Inclusion. In 2021, Senegal scores above the continental average in all subcategories and is among the top ten ranked countries in 7 of the 16 subcategories.”
Among the subcategories where Senegal received good scores are Security and Safety (84.5/100), Public Administration (73.7/100). These subcategories encompass several indicators including « absence of armed conflict », assessing, « the number of violent events occurring within the framework of state and non-state conflicts as well as the number of non-state conflicts occurring on the territory of a country ». As for the indicator relating to « the absence of violence against the civilian population », it assesses « the number of violent events perpetrated against the civilian population by the public forces and non-State actors as well as the levels of political violence recorded in a country ». Despite this progress, the IIAG highlights a setback in the “Participation, Rights and Inclusion” category due to a regression in the Participation, Inclusion and Equality and Parity subcategories, i.e. the “Freedoms of association & meeting; equality in power” …
By evaluating the performance of African countries in terms of governance, the IIAG also gives citizens a voice in order to measure their perception of governance. It was thus noted that in “Senegal, the general level of citizen satisfaction with governance has been declining since 2012, due to a regression in one of the subsections. This decrease concerns the Citizens‘ perception of security and rule of law subsection where all the indicators show an increasing level of dissatisfaction.
Published since 2007, the document recalls that “the IIAG assesses the performance of 54 African countries in terms of governance over the last ten years for which data is available. The Mo Ibrahim Foundation defines governance as the provision of public goods in the political, social, economic and environmental domains that every citizen has the right to expect from the State, and that every State is obliged to offer to its citizens.”
By Dialigué FAYE / dialigue@lequotidien.sn
- Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH