Valentine Okafor
A new study has revealed that Africa’s anti-corruption performance improved overall since 2020, although results vary sharply across countries.
This is contained in the latest report published by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.
Titled “Anti-Corruption: From Decline to Recovery,” the report assesses the effectiveness of anti-corruption frameworks in government, public administration and the private sector across African countries between 2016 and 2025.
The findings are based on the Anti-Corruption subcategory of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG).
Anti-Corruption is one of four subcategories within the IIAG’s Security and Rule of Law pillar. It draws on 25 variables from several sources, including the African Institute for Development Policy, Afrobarometer, the World Economic Forum, the World Justice Project, Bertelsmann Stiftung, Varieties of Democracy and the World Bank.
The variables are grouped into six indicators: anti-corruption mechanisms, absence of corruption in state institutions, absence of corruption in the public sector, absence of corruption in the private sector, public procurement procedures and public perceptions of anti-corruption efforts. Countries are scored from zero, representing a completely ineffective anti-corruption system, to 100, representing the best possible performance.
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which publishes the assessment every two years in July, reported a modest improvement over the past decade. Africa’s average score rose from 38.6 in 2016 to 39.1 in 2025.
Although the 0.5-point increase was small, it reversed the decline recorded during the first half of the period. Scores followed a U-shaped trajectory, falling until 2020 before recovering.
The continent’s average score declined by 0.9 points between 2016 and 2020, from 38.6 to 37.7. It then rose by 1.4 points between 2020 and 2025, more than offsetting the earlier decline.
The report however found that Country-level trends varied considerably.
Over the decade, changes ranged from a 26.3-point improvement in Seychelles to a 14-point decline in Comoros. Performance deteriorated in 28 countries, representing 58.8 per cent of Africa’s population, while 26 countries accounting for 41.2 per cent recorded improvements.
The report also shows large differences in performance across the continent. Rwanda remained Africa’s highest-scoring country, as it has been since 2016, reaching 76.6 points in 2025 after gaining 2.6 points over the decade.
Seychelles recorded the largest improvement, gaining 26.3 points to reach 76.6 and moving up 12 places in the ranking.
This brought it level with Rwanda in first place. Mauritius ranked third with 65.7 points, followed by Senegal with 64.0, Benin with 58.7, Botswana with 57.8, Namibia with 57.6, Cabo Verde with 56.1, Tunisia with 55.9 and Burkina Faso with 55.6.
South Sudan ranked last, scoring 6.9 points in 2025, down from 11.6 in 2016.
The gap between the joint leaders and the lowest-ranked country stood at 69.7 points.
Seychelles, Angola, Chad, Somalia and Togo recorded the largest improvements over the decade. Seychelles now shares first place with Rwanda. Somalia remained 53rd with a score of 14 points despite its improvement, while Togo ranked 17th, Angola 29th and Chad 41st.
The steepest declines since 2016 were recorded in Comoros, which ranked 41st in 2025, Liberia in 32nd, South Africa in 15th, Niger in 29th and Botswana in sixth.