Three major ranking systems were released last week, ordering the countries of the world (or of Africa) by criteria that compare states.
– Corruption Perceptions Index. Tthe German-based NGO Transparency International released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, a survey reflecting the perceptions of business people and country analysts of corruption levels in 180 countries and territories – the greatest country coverage of any Corruption Percep-tions Index to date. You can read all about the 2007 survey at Transparency International’s website: http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi. According to the widely anticipated survey, published each year since 1995, Somalia and Myanmar are the world’s most corrupt countries, while Denmark has edged up to share top honors with perennial high-flyers Finland and New Zealand. Botswana, Africa’s least corrupt country, ranks 38th out of the 180 countries surveyed. The United States has ranked 20th for the last two years. Scores are signi-ficantly better in several African countries in the 2007 survey, including Namibia (57), Seychelles, South Africa, and Swaziland, reflecting the positive progress of anti-corruption efforts in Africa.
– Doing Business 2008. Last week also saw the release of the World Bank’s annual Doing Business report, an assessment of countries’ regulations that enhance or constrain business activity. Doing Business 2008, the fifth report in the series, examines business regulations in 178 economies, looking at rules that govern starting a business, dealing with licenses, employing workers, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enfor-cing contracts and closing a business. It presents a mixed story for Africa, with some reformers (like Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Mauritius, and Madagascar) making progress, but with a great deal of work remaining to be done. Only six sub-Saharan African countries (Mauritius, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Kenya, and Ghana) ranked in the top 100 countries of the world, and Africa holds 25 of the bottom 30 positions. You can see the complete report here: http://www.doingbusiness.org. Other African highlights include:
· In Sub-Saharan Africa, 52% of the countries made at least one reform last year, contrasting with Eastern Europe and Central Asia at 80%.
Zimbabwe implemented three reforms to make doing business more difficult.
The large emerging economies are raising the stakes. China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Turkey, and Vietnam all improved in the ease of doing business, which will make them even more competitive than African economies.
· Evidence shows that the benefits of reform are especially great for women, who are three times more likely to be employed in the informal economy, where they have no social benefits or legal protections.
– Mo Ibrahim Foundation. Finally, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation has created an Index of African Governance to measure performance in the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The Foundation was created a year ago by Sudanese-born telecommunications billionaire and philanthropist Mo Ibrahim. At his behest, a group of Harvard academics developed the index, which uses data from the United Nations, Transparency Inter-national, and think-tanks. The index assesses national progress in five key areas:
· Safety and Security
· Rule of Law, Transparency and Corruption
· Participation and Human Rights
· Sustainable Economic Development
· Human Development
You can read more about the index and how the measures were made at the Foundation website: http://www.moibrahimfoundation.org/. A handful of countries scored well on the index: Mauritius, Seychelles, Botswana, Cape Verde, and South Africa. Namibia is ranked in 7th position. Not surprisingly, Sudan, Chad, DR Congo, and Somalia occupy the index’s bottom rungs. Although the index was published for the first time this year, it looks at data from 2000, 2002, and 2005, and so discusses which countries are “most improved,” an honor that goes to Rwanda, while Zimbabwe, Guinea Bissau, and the DR Congo fell furthest during the five-year period.