Botswana is the safest country in Africa according to the latest Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance released on Friday.
Botswana was however retained second after Mauratius in the overall rankings as was the case last year.
Botswana’s worst performance was in “participation and human rights” where it was ranked fourth after Cape Verde, Mauratius and South Africa. Botswana’s weakness in this area was on its commitment towards women representation in parliament and gender equality. The country was also ranked fourth in human development because of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the quality of education.
Botswana’s best performance was in safety and rule of law where it is ranked first. The country fared better than all countries on the rule of law and accountability indices.
Despite being the continent’s biggest economy, South Africa was ranked only seventh on education ÔÇö behind Seychelles, Mauritius, Tunisia, Cape Verde, Botswana and Ghana.
South Africa’s lowest ranking was for personal safety ÔÇö 41 ÔÇö due to the high level of violent crime.
Its performance in the rural sector was also poor ÔÇö it was ranked 21st, behind countries such as Gambia, Benin, Uganda and Mali.
The index looks at 94 indicators and makes its findings on the basis of data from surveys and opinion polls.
