Kenya was among a number of African countries to defy domestic and external shocks and come out on top in terms of quality of policy and institutional frameworks according to a report by the World Bank.
The country, according to the World Bank’s 2017 Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA), scored 3.7 in 2017 as compared to the average score for Sub Sharan Africa, which stood at 3.1. The only countries in Africa that recorded a better score were Rwanda and Senegal that posted a 4.0 and 3.8 score respectively. The study that covered 38 SSA IDA countries in 2017 came to the conclusion that African countries had a more favourable global environment that provided them with space to implement reforms.
Kenya’s highest performing institutions were under the economic management that scored of 4.0 while structural policies and policies for social inclusion and equity scored of 3.8 and 3.7 respectively. On the other hand, the lowest performing was the public management cluster, which managed a score of 3.4.
Despite SSA region getting a score of 3.1, which was lower than the average score of 3.2 for the other International Development Association (IDA) countries (the poorest countries in the world as per World Bank estimates), it was found that more countries had improved this year around.
According to Punam Chuhan-Pole, lead economist and lead author of the report, nearly 30% more countries strengthened their policy and institutional quality in 2017 compared with 2016. “This is an encouraging trend,” he said.
The CPIA report has been in place since 1980. Their scores have been used in determining IDA countries allocation of resources to the poorest countries. They have also been useful for monitoring country progress and benchmarking it against progress in other IDA-eligible countries.
The report rates countries on a scale of 1 (low) to 6 (high) across 16 dimensions reflecting economic management, structural policies, policies for social inclusion and equity, and public sector management and institutions pillar.
