The west has spent decades judging Africa’s governance and colonialism is much to blame. But Mo Ibrahim’s latest index offers a different perspective – and some uncomfortable truths
The west has never been short of advice on how Africa should govern itself. It has produced rankings, attached conditions to aid and delivered lectures on corruption, often while its own banks and corporations have profited handsomely from the continent’s governance weaknesses.
So, there was something refreshing about sitting in Cairo, listening to a Sudanese-born, self-made telecommunications entrepreneur and billionaire on why Africans needed to measure their own governments.