BY FRANK AMAN
8th November 2014
The report published by the Legatum Institute, a charitable public policy think-tank and independent member of the Legatum Group that was launched yesterday in Kigali, Rwanda at the annual African Leadership Network conference is designed to shed light on development of skills amongst youth to better inform policy makers.
The majority of data and analysis is taken from the flagship Legatum Prosperity Index, which explores the foundations of prosperity in 142 countries around the world.
The report confirms great successes across the continent in terms of economy and entrepreneurship & opportunities while unveiling serious problems in health, education and safety & security underlining the challenges faced across the continent impacting long-term development and shared prosperity.
“Education is key for prosperity because a well-educated person is more productive, more likely to participate in political processes, demand better governance and to take part in societal development”, reads part of the report.
Solene Dengler, Research Analyst in the Prosperity Index team states, “By supporting education quality, female entrepreneurship, and the rising middle class, African countries could avoid a future inequality and chronic poverty persist amongst its citizen.
He said that in turn, this will empower disadvantaged groups that have been left out of the current economic boom, raising personal and national wellbeing.
The report also identifies and examines three distinct groups of people identifying them as drivers of African prosperity: the well-educated, female entrepreneurs and the middle class.
According to an Economist in the Prosperity Index team Novella Bottini, despite efforts to promote business across Africa with regards to entrepreneurship, women are often left out.
Bottini said “Initiatives that support women empowerment and a more active participation in business will be key for future prosperity through increased economic activities, and larger investments in health and education of their families and communities.”
The Program Director of the Prosperity Index, Nathan Gamester also said that the Economy sub-index for Africa showed the greatest increase between 2012 and 2014.
According to the report, he said Eastern Africa is highlighted in the report as the region with the largest increase in prosperity for the past three years.
“Rwanda has risen five place since 2012 and is now ranked 8th amongst 38 African countries. Its rise over the years is attributable to strong scores in governance, entrepreneurship and opportunity, health, safety and security,” Gamester said.
Southern Africa performed well across the board, particularly in Education, Governance, Entrepreneurship and Opportunity, and Botswana was named the most prosperous country in Africa overall for the third year in a row.
Based on the report nine of the bottom 10 countries in the global Prosperity Index for Health are in Sub-Saharan Africa which include Angola, Guinea, Zambia, Burundi, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Central African Republic and Sierra Leone,
However eight of the 10 most improved countries in Health are also in sub-Saharan Africa that includes Tanzania, Mozambique, Cameroon, Mali, Senegal, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and Rwanda.
Sierra Leone, the country worst affected by Ebola outbreak, is at the bottom of 142 countries in terms of health indicators. Liberia and Guinea are amongst the ten African countries with the highest self-reported health problems.
In Liberia, 31 percent of people reported having health problems, and in Guinea 29 percent, when the average in Africa is 25 percent. Besides high self-reported health problems, this low score is due to low sanitation levels, with only 17 percent and 19 percent of their respective populations having access to sanitation facilities.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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