Solomon Atah

The Measure of Governance: What a Number Can Say, and What We Must Do With It Over ten years, from 2016 to 2025, Africa's Overall Governance score rose by 0.8 of a point, from 49.3 to 50.1. A reader who stops at that number sees stagnation. Beneath it, foundations for economic opportunity gained 3.7 points and human development 2.5, while security and rule of law lost 1.7 and participation, rights and inclusion lost 1.0. The overall score is a simple average of four categories, so each carries a quarter of it, and a plain average can act as a veil. @SolomonAtah and I wrote about the Ibrahim Index together. We set out how it is built, where its limits lie (arithmetic, data and stability), and four questions to put to any number before repeating it: what was counted, what was left out, how the parts were combined, and which edition it comes from. We then ask what a government should do when a number like this reaches its desk. Our answer rests on institutions rather than people: a statistics office that is trusted, a service that is delivered, a ministry that can be asked to account, a record that is kept. Read the full piece: drmalusigigaba.org/gigaba-ib… #IbrahimIndex #AfricanGovernance #MoIbrahimFoundation #AfricanLeadership #TheFutureIsNotAnAccident