Third of Africa backsliding in governance index

London (AFP) - More than a third of African countries are backsliding on governance, the 2015 Ibrahim Index showed Monday.

Some 21 of the 54 states ranked, including five of the top 10, have deteriorated in overall governance performance since 2011, the annual index found.

"Africans overall are certainly healthier and live in more democratic societies than 15 years ago," said founder Mo Ibrahim, the Sudan-born telecoms tycoon.

However, "the 2015 Ibrahim Index of African Governance shows that recent progress in other key areas on the continent has either stalled or reversed, and that some key countries seem to be faltering," he said.

"This is a warning sign for all of us. Only shared and sustained improvements across all areas of governance will deliver the future that Africans deserve and demand."

Ibrahim launched the index in 2006 in a bid to help countries measure and improve their performance.

It ranks countries according to 93 indicators grouped under four categories: safety and the rule of law, participation and human rights, sustainable economic opportunity and human development.

Launched in London, this year's index includes Sudan and South Sudan for the first time, enough separate data having been amassed since South Sudan's secession in 2011.

The top three countries in the index remain Mauritius, Cape Verde and Botswana.

The bottom three are Central African Republic, South Sudan, and lastly, Somalia.

South Sudan and the CAR were the biggest fallers, followed by Mali.

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation separately awards the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership -- the world's biggest such prize, worth $5 million (4.4 million euros) over 10 years, then $200,000 annually for life thereafter.

Given to retiring good leaders, suitable candidates have only been found in two of the last six years.

Former Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba won the prize in 2014.