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The Mo Ibrahim foundation has said that it won't tell African leaders what to do but it would continue to focus on what constitutes good leadership on the continent.
The foundation said this a few days after it released its annual report on good governance.
Over the last decade, overall governance has on average maintained a moderate upward trajectory, with three out of four of Africa's citizens (71.6%) living in a country where governance has improved, the report showed.
Speaking to News24 this week, Mo Ibrahim board member, Ngaire Woods, said the foundation focused on building good political leadership and clean governance on the continent.
She said that for the continent to move forward, education and youth development should be at the centre of governance across the continent.
"We do not tell African governments what to do; we simple say these are crucial areas for development. We do not change how we rate countries when we release our annual scorecards on leadership precisely to show that these various frameworks are crucial for continental development," said Woods.
Security fears and lack of jobs in African
The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) released this week provided an annual assessment of the quality of governance in African countries.
Compiled by combining over 100 variables from more than 30 independent African and global institutions, the IIAG was the most comprehensive collection of data on African governance.
The IIAG provided a framework for citizens, governments, institutions and the private sector to accurately assess the delivery of public goods and services, and policy outcomes, across the continent.
"The role of the index is to help governments, businesses and the general public in understanding what they have to do to improve. The scorecards use a variety of available data and it is important because it measures what progress has been made on various issues affecting the continent," said Woods.
The 2018 IIAG report indicated that security fears and lack of jobs in African nations had hampered gains in governance across the diverse continent over the last decade, reported AFP.
Deteriorating business climate
As a whole, it showed Africa's progress being led by a handful of nations that pulled up the average, "while in many others momentum continues to falter".
The annual IIAG also pointed to a deteriorating business climate and poor job creation.
"The 2018 report does not at all paint a bleak future for the continent as it has been reported. It simple shows that some countries on the continent that include Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda have on average done quite well," said Woods.
Woods, however, conceded that African governments had to redesign their education systems in such a way that the they catered for the needs of the economy.
For 27 countries education scored registered deterioration in the last five years, meaning that for more than half (52.8%) of Africa’s youth population, education outcomes were worsening.
This drop was driven by a fall in the indicators measuring whether education was meeting the needs of the economy, education quality, and citizens’ expectations of education provision.
"The alarm on the report is based on the fact that its young people who would make up 60% of the continent. It also raised concerns on how education has been structured over the last decade.
"What has also been scary is that young children in other parts of the continent have not been in school, therefore, it says that these countries should focus on education," said Woods.
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