In many respects, this failure to translate a country’s economic growth into financial wellness and financial stability for its citizens is a function of failed institutions and failed governance. We need to pay close attention to how the trends on overall governance are playing out for different countries on the continent.
As the Ibrahim Index of African Governance highlights in their latest 2017 report: ‘While in 2017 the range between the highest (Mauritius) and lowest (Somalia) governance scores is the smallest it has been in ten years, increasing divergence appears between country scores. In the earlier years of the last decade, countries were concentrated around the African average score, but over the last ten years have dispersed. Within the last three years, 18 countries displayed their worst overall governance performance in a decade, and 28 achieved their best in the same period, highlighting the diverging trends on the continent.