Africa Capacity Index (ACI) 2019

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Since 2011, the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF – specialized agency of the AU, located in Harara, Zimbabwe https://www.acbf-pact.org/) publishes an annual Africa Capacity Report (ACR).
The ACR measures and examines the capacity of African countries to pursue their development agenda, focusing on key determinants and components of capacity for development. ACBF defines capacity as the “ability of people, organizations, and society as a whole to manage their affairs successfully” and capacity development as the process by which “people, organizations, and society as a whole unleash, strengthen, create, adapt, and maintain capacity over time.
Capacity of African countries, examined in ACR, is reflected by Africa Capacity Index (ACI). The ACI - is a composite index computed from a quantitative and qualitative assessment of four sub-indices or indicator “clusters” on a specially designed questionnaire. “The policy environment cluster” considers the conditions that must be in place to make transformational change and development possible. “The processes for implementation cluster” assesses the extent to which countries are prepared to deliver results and outcomes. “The development results at country level cluster” refers to tangible outputs that encourage development. And “the capacity development outcomes cluster” measures change in the human condition.
In more detail:
The policy environment cluster considers the conditions that must be in place to make transformational change and development possible, notably effective and development-oriented organizations and institutional frameworks. It focuses on four components: whether countries have put in place national strategies for development (including a strategy for agricultural development, given the importance of transforming agriculture and achieving food security), and their level of legitimacy; countries’ commitment to meeting development and poverty reduction goals set under the SDGs; country-level awareness and focus on better use of limited resources for capacity development, as measured by the presence of policies for aid effectiveness such as endorsement of the Busan Global Partnership and existence of an aid coordination policy; and the degree of inclusiveness that supports the country’s long-term stability, as measured by the existence of gender-equality and other socially inclusive policies. Broad participation and good governance underpin this cluster.
The implementation processes cluster assesses the extent to which countries are prepared to deliver results and outcomes. This cluster focuses on the creation of an environment that motivates and supports individuals; the capacity to manage relations with key stakeholders inclusively and constructively; and the capacity to establish appropriate frameworks for managing strategies, programs, and projects. Equally important are processes for designing, implementing, and managing national development strategies to produce socially inclusive development outcomes.
The development results at country level cluster refers to tangible outputs that encourage development. The cluster’s main components are coordination of aid support to capacity development, creativity and innovation, success in implementing the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, gender equality, and social inclusion, and partnering for capacity development.
The capacity development outcomes cluster largely measures change in the human condition. Indicators are captured mainly through the financial commitment to capacity development, actual achievement of specific MDGs, measures of gender and broader social equity, and gains in agriculture and food security.

The ACR includes African countries, for which data are available. The inaugural Africa Capacity Report in 2011 included 34 African countries, in 2012 – 42, in 2013 and 2014 – 44, in 2015 – 45, in 2017 – 44, in 2019 – 46. Countries which are not included in the 2019 ACR: Angola, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Libya, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Sudan.
The results for the 2019 ACI are generally satisfactory, driven mainly by a strong policy environment. The ACI ranges from 70.8 for Mauritius to 24.0 for Guinea-Bissau, where scores of 0 < 20 are very low, 20 to < 40 are low, 40 to < 60 are medium, 60 to < 80 are high, and 80 to 100 are very high. No countries are in the very low or very high extremes of capacity. Most countries are in the medium bracket, namely 31 countries (67%); 10 are in the high capacity bracket (22%), 5 are in the low bracket (11%).
The top ten of the ACI 2019 are the following countries with indicator of the ACI from 70.8 to 60.5: Mauritius, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Ghana, Tanzania, Mali, Tunisia, Rwanda, Namibia, Morocco.
Since 2011 achievements by indicator cluster have not changed much.
The policy environment cluster remains the strongest. More than 93% of countries are ranked high or very high on policy environment, reflecting countries’ launching of policies and strategies such as national development plans and visions and strategies for development.
For the processes for implementation cluster some improvement is called, as almost 58,7% of countries are ranked as medium or low and 41.3% are ranked at a high or very high level, and in 2015 these figures were 13.3% and respectively 86.7%.
The development results at country level cluster since 2014 has caught up with the processes for implementation cluster and even became better as 60.8% of countries are ranked as very high and high while for the processes for implementation cluster it makes up 41.3%.
Capacity development outcomes remain the weakest. Only 2.2% of countries in that cluster rank in the highest brackets, a small but significant improvement from 0 percent in 2016. As reported in previous ACRs, boosting performance on indicators in the capacity development outcomes cluster is difficult because few countries allocate adequate resources to capacity building. Further, two-thirds of countries (66%) have not complied with the 2003 Maputo Declaration that committed them to allocating at least 10% of national budgetary resources to agriculture.
[Africa Capacity Report (ACR) 2019. Fostering Transformative Leadership For Africa’s Development // The African Capacity Building Foundation, Harare (Zimbabwe). – February 2019, p. 1-4]