JOHANNESBURG Some southern African states have topped the Prosperity Rankings in Africa, while Zimbabwe has ranked one of the lowest.South Africa, Botswana and Namibia scored high ahead of their continental peers.
According to the Legatum Prosperity Index published today, strong communities, personal freedom and democratic institutions are the recipe for success in South Africa and Botswana, while poor governance, dire health conditions and low levels of internal security has contributed to the dragging down of the rest.
At the bottom of the rankings are Zimbabwe and Sudan at 104 and 103 respectively.
This is the third edition of the Prosperity Index, covering about 90 per cent of the world’s population), and is based on a definition of prosperity that combines economic growth together with measures of happiness and quality of life.
“The lowest ranking African countries show a clear link between a lack of effective government structures, high levels of internal conflict, and a lack of personal freedom, all of which contribute towards low levels of prosperity,” said Dr. William Inboden, Senior Vice President of the Legatum Institute.
The Index identifies nine key factors that drive economic growth and personal wellbeing, which are foundations of prosperity. Each of these nine factors is represented in a sub-index and a country’s final Prosperity Index ranking is generated by averaging its scores across all nine sub-indexes, equally weighted.
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