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Mo Ibrahim standing at a podium at the release of the 2026 index
  1. NEWS
  2. AUC Hosts Launch of 2026 Ibrahim Index of African Governance

AUC Hosts Launch of 2026 Ibrahim Index of African Governance

Meredith Scheiner November 03, 2026
Global Connections

At AUC Tahrir Square last week, businessman, philanthropist and AUC Advisory Trustee Sir Mo Ibrahim, founder and chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, launched the 2026 dataset of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), which measures government performance across the African continent.

A thumbnail of Mo Ibrahim. There is a play button in the lower right corner
Watch Sir Mo Ibrahim share his insights on good governance, the role of education in empowering youth, and the impact of AI on Africa and beyond. 
Mo Ibrahim on a panel
Mo Ibrahim talking on stage
A distance shot of the panelists at the 2026 index event
Mo Ibrahim sitting next to President Ahmed Dallal and other panelists
Ibrahim on stage, shot from the on-stage perspective. Three other panelists are seated to his left
  • Mo Ibrahim on a panel
  • Mo Ibrahim talking on stage
  • A distance shot of the panelists at the 2026 index event
  • Mo Ibrahim sitting next to President Ahmed Dallal and other panelists
  • Ibrahim on stage, shot from the on-stage perspective. Three other panelists are seated to his left

"Our objective as a foundation is to really address the issue of Africa as a continent — why Africa is underdeveloped," Ibrahim said during a panel for the launch of the 2026 dataset of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance at AUC Tahrir Square. "It’s very important for African governments and African people to have a reliable set of data to know where we are and where we are going.” Watch the full launch of the 2026 Ibrahim Index of African Governance event here. 

Ibrahim seeks to answer the question: “Why is Africa where it is?” The Ibrahim Index of African Governance establishes a data-driven analysis of the changes, challenges and improvements in every African nation’s governmental systems. Ibrahim calls it “the most accurate picture of what is going on in Africa, based on data, not personal views or political bias,” according to the IIAG website. The launch of the 2026 dataset brings important new information about the African continent to the general public. 

When building the index, Ibrahim discovered a research gap in the data collection of African nations and realized that gathering pure, non-biased statistics was not happening on a wide-scale. Ibrahim makes this data publicly available so that leaders can “switch on the light” on the status of their countries, helping them identify ways to enhance Africa’s future.

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