São Tomé and Príncipe recorded a continuous deterioration in the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) of 2026 and dropped a position to the 13th in the overall classification, according to a report published today.
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31/10/2026
by
Lusa
Sã Tomé and Príncipe registered a continuous deterioration in the Ibrahim African Governance Index (IIAG) of 2026 and fell a position to the 13th in the overall classification, according to a report published today.
The country is part of the group of states where the Global Governance has regressed in the last decade, along with the Lusophones Cape Verde, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau, as well as the Central African Republic, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Niger, South Africa, Sudan and Tunisia.
In addition to scoring worse in 2025 than in 2016, the pace of decline has increased since 2021.
The index places São Tomé and Príncipe in the group of nine countries where both the Security and Rule of Law and the Foundations for Opportunities Economics deteriorated between 2016 and 2025, as did the Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan and Sudan.
In the subcategory Health, São Tomé and Príncipe is the second most deteriorating African country in the decade, only surpassed by the Gambia.
This regression contrasts with the continental trend, as 40 countries, which house 87% of the African population, have improved their performance in this area.
Despite the decline in governance indicators, the archipelago maintains the alternation of power: São Tomé and Príncipe is one of eight countries that have held executive elections in the last five years and have seen the opposition take power, with Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Senegal and Zambia.
However, the index notes that this change in executive power did not translate significantly into an increase in the scores of the Participation category.
In these eight countries, only the Democratic Elections indicator has improved.
São Tomé and Príncipe also stands out for a strong gap between the progress of civil registration and the public perception of the ease of obtaining an identity document.
The country is still among the six where public acceptance of different ethnic groups deteriorated.
Published biennially by the Ibrahim Foundation, the 2026 edition of IIAG will be officially presented today in Cairo, and it analyzes the 2016-2025 period through 96 governance indicators.