The Measure of Good Governance

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation, an organisation founded by Mo Ibrahim to promote better government in Africa, has published a survey called ‘Ibrahim Index of African Governance’ in which nearly two-thirds of sub-Saharan African nations between 2005 and 2006 have improved their quality of governance especially in participation and human rights. However, another analyst contends that rather than seeing improved governance, the continent is facing a new scramble without resistance and revolt from the ruling African elite - the comprador class – who are active participants in the process of re-colonisation of their continent. The new colonisers are not interested in redefining national borders but the continent’s national resources such as oil, diamonds, timber, gold, uranium, ivory and natural gas, among others.

The African Union (UA) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Association of Peace Support Training Centre for the training of African military personnel. The learning will focus on peacekeeping operations, given that every region of Africa is expected to establish a stand-by brigade that could be deployed to trouble zones at short notice. The AU has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the World Bank, which is aimed at deepening collaboration in the areas of regional integration, governance, post-conflict situations, relations with the Diaspora, HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases. This AU-World Bank partnership is anticipated to be results-focused with the World Bank’s technical expertise complementing the African Union’s political lead. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture organised the first Pan African Banana Conference during which banana farmers, buyers, trade officials, donors and scientists gathered in Mombasa, Kenya in an effort to transform smallholder banana production in Africa by linking farmers to regional and global markets.

In peace and security news, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) asked President Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa to request his predecessor Thabo Mbeki to continue as Zimbabwe’s mediator following a deadlock over the allocation of ministries between rival political parties. The move came after the Movement for Democratic Change formally wrote to SADC regarding the impasse. In his statement, South Africa’s new leader backed former president Thabo Mbeki as the mediator in Zimbabwe, saying that his ‘government has full confidence in Mr Mbeki’s ability to build on the historic successes already made in the power-sharing negotiations under his mediation’. According to the executive secretary of the Economic Community of West African States, the community intends to implement, by the end of this year, the legally binding convention aimed at ending the continued proliferation of small arms within the sub-region.

In other news, Uganda hosted the first Justice for Women’s forum to address issues affecting women in war in northern Uganda, Sudan and the Central African Republic. The President of the Commission of the AU, Jean Ping, took part in a joint meeting of the AU and the European Union to discuss, among other issues, the request by the French government to suspend the judicial proceedings against Sudanese President Omar El Bashir for genocide and war crimes committed in Darfur.

Finally, the Democratic presidential election candidate in the United States, Senator Barack Obama, is said to have outlined his fundamental policy objectives for Africa once he is elected to the White House. These are: ‘to accelerate Africa’s integration into the global economy’; ‘to enhance the peace and security of African states’; and ‘to strengthen relationships with those governments, institutions and civil society organizations committed to deepening democracy, accountability and reducing poverty in Africa’.