Africa and the Human Freedom Index

The US-based CATO Institute and Canada-based Fraser Institute just published the "Human Freedom Index 2022: A Global Measurement of Personal, Civil, and Economic Freedom" by Ian Vasquez, Fred McMahon, Ryan Murphy, and Guillermina Sutter Schneider.   

The Human Freedom Index uses 83 indicators of personal and economic freedom in the following areas: 

--Rule of law

--Security and safety

--Movement

--Religion

--Association, assembly and civil society

--Expression and information

--Relationships

--Size of government

--Legal system and property rights

--Sound money

--Freedom to trade internationally

--Regulation

The Index looked at 165 geographical jurisdictions using data for 2020, the most recent year for which sufficient data are available.  Human freedom deteriorated severely in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The five African countries with the best Human Freedom Index were Cape Verde (29), Seychelles (44). Mauritius (50), Namibia (58), and Botswana (61). 

The five African countries with the worst Human Freedom Index were Egypt (161), Sudan (160), Somalia (158), Burundi (156), and Libya (155).  

Horn of Africa Countries Rank Near Bottom of Human Freedom Index

 The Cato Institute has just released its Human Freedom Index 2021 that ranks and evaluates 165 countries.  The index presents a broad measure of human freedom, understood as the absence of coercive constraint. It evaluates 82 indicators of personal and economic freedom in the following areas: rule of law; security and safety; movement; religion; association, assembly, and civil society; expression and information; relationships; size of government; legal system and property rights; sound money; freedom to trade internationally; and regulations.

Countries in the Horn of Africa did not score well.  Ethiopia ranked 132, Djibouti 137, Somalia 159, and Sudan 162.  Eritrea and South Sudan were not included in the rankings.  

Africa and the Human Freedom Index

 The Cato Institute just released its "Human Freedom Index 2020" by Ian Vasquez and Fred McMahon.  It discusses and ranks 162 countries.

The best ranked African country is Cape Verde at number 44 followed by Mauritius at number 51.  The bottom 20 is represented by 14 African countries: Zimbabwe (141), Republic of Congo (143), Angola (144), Cameroon (145), Guinea (146), Burundi (148), Ethiopia (149), Mauritania (150), DRC (151), CAR (153), Algeria (154), Libya (156), Egypt (157), and Sudan (161).  

Africa and the Human Freedom Index 2018

The Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute, and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom have just published "The Human Freedom Index 2018: A Global Measurement of Personal, Civil, and Economic Freedom" by Ian Vasquez and Tanja Porcnik.

It evaluated 162 countries for 2016, the most recent year for which sufficient data are available. It looked at 79 indicators of personal and economic freedom in the following areas: rule of law, security, safety, movement, religion, association, assembly, civil society, expression, information, identity, relationships, size of government, legal systems, property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade internationally, and regulation of credit, labor, and business.

Of the 47 African countries evaluated, the ten best performing were: Mauritius (37), Cape Verde (53), Seychelles (54), Ghana (57), South Africa (63), Botswana (64), Rwanda (71), Namibia (74), Kenya (82), and Uganda (85). The five worst performing African countries were: Libya (158), Sudan (157), Egypt (156), Algeria (155) and Burundi (154).

Human Freedom Index - 2017 - East Africa and the Horn

The Washington-based CATO Institute, the Fraser Institute in Canada, and the Liberales Institut at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in Germany have published the "2017 Human Freedom Index." It ranks 159 countries based on 79 distinct indicators using data from 2008 to 2017.

It ranked only four countries in East Africa and the Horn, all of which fell below the midpoint. Kenya performed best at number 89, followed by Uganda at 94 and Tanzania at 99. Ethiopia had the lowest regional ranking at number 146. The other countries in the Horn of Africa were not included.

East Africa and the Horn: Human Freedom Index

The Washington-based CATO Institute published in November 2016 "The Human Freedom Index 2016: A Global Measurement of Personal, Civil, and Economic Freedom" by Ian Vasquez and Tanja Porcnik.

The study evaluated 159 countries, including 46 in Africa. It included Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia but omitted all other countries in the Horn of Africa. On personal freedom, Kenya ranked 105, Tanzania 106, Uganda 128, and Ethiopia 134. The highest ranking African country was Ghana at 44. On economic freedom, Uganda ranked 54, Kenya 71, Tanzania 93, and Ethiopia 145. The highest ranking African country was Mauritius at 5. The human freedom and democracy index ranked Kenya at 88, Tanzania at 99, Uganda at 100, and Ethiopia at 142. The highest ranking African country was Mauritius at 34.