Africa governments strengthening economies

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Africa's governments are doing a better job of strengthening their economies and helping the private sector grow, but security has deteriorated on the continent over the past five years, a former World Bank official said Monday.



An annual report by the London-based Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance, which tracks development across the continent, found Angola, Egypt and Liberia were among the countries that made the greatest economic strides.



But 35 African countries saw a decline in safety and rule of law according to the Ibrahim Index, which was mainly based on data from last year.



Mauritius, Botswana and South Africa were among countries that topped overall governance rankings, while the overall worst performers included Somalia, Zimbabwe and Chad, according to the Index.



South Africa, the biggest economy on the continent, scored fifth overall in government performance but ranked 44th of 53 African countries in personal safety.



"We are lounging down there with the Somalis and Zimbabweans, and it's not a pretty place," said former World Bank official Mamphela Ramphele, a South African who is on the board of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.



Ramphele said Monday that African governments have improved economically not only because of their countries' commodities and resources, but also because of their commitments to working more with private enterprises.



"This is an important change for African leaders," Ramphele said.



Nigeria privatized more than 116 enterprises between 1999 and 2006, according to an annual report by McKinsey & Company, an international financial consulting company.



Additionally, Africa's flow of foreign direct investment increased to $62 billion in 2008 from $9 billion in 2000, which is almost as large as the flow into China, the McKinsey report said.



Earlier this year, the World Bank concluded Africa was rebounding from the global crisis, and poverty was slowly decreasing after "a decade of improvements in governance, favorable commodity prices, better macroeconomic policies, higher investments in human development, health care and education."



To cushion the global financial crisis, the Liberian government proposed tax cuts and a $2 million fund for Liberian entrepreneurs, according to the 2010 African Development Bank report, which showed that Africa's economies were hit less hard by the international economic crisis than Europe or North America, but should recover just as quickly.