For Immediate Release
Contacts: Jim Weidman, (202) 675-1761, Jim.Weidman@heritage.org
Kate Dobbin, +44 207 573 4016, kate.dobbin@dowjones.com
INDEX: ECOMOMIC FREEDOM EXPANDS IN
MANY PARTS OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
WASHINGTON, JAN. 27, 2015—Sub-Saharan Africa’s overall level of
economic freedom remains low, yet the region experienced the most widespread improvement
over the last year, according to the 2015 Index of Economic Freedom, published by The Wall
Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation.
Sub-Saharan Africa lacks a “free” economy, and is home to only one classified as
“mostly free” (Mauritius). A majority of the region’s economies are either “mostly unfree” or
“repressed.” But six of the world’s 10 biggest score improvements (São Tomé and Príncipe,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, Senegal, Burundi and Zimbabwe) occurred there last
year, and the region continues to move in the right direction.
Yet despite the “substantial growth momentum” evident in many economies in SubSaharan Africa, “the region as a whole continues to underperform in following through on policy
changes that will help the emergence of a more dynamic private sector,” the editors write.
Launched in 1995, the Index evaluates countries in four broad policy areas that affect
economic freedom: rule of law; limited government; regulatory efficiency; and open markets.
There are 10 specific categories: property rights, freedom from corruption, fiscal freedom,
government spending, business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom, trade freedom,
investment freedom, and financial freedom. Scores in these categories are averaged to create an
overall score.
Twenty-seven of Sub-Saharan Africa’s 46 economies posted improved Index scores last
year. São Tomé and Príncipe’s 4.5-point gain (the world’s biggest gain) moved it out of the
“repressed” category to “mostly unfree”, while the Democratic Republic of Congo’s 4.4-point
improvement lifted it out of the world’s bottom 10 economies. Mauritius, despite a slight
decline in its score, remains the region’s leader, followed by Botswana, which lost 2.2 points,
dropping it into the “moderately free” category.
Swaziland’s 1.3-point loss caused it to slide into the “mostly unfree” category that
prevails among the region’s economies. Liberia and Sierra Leone, despite the challenges of
Ebola, have moved up from the ranks of the “repressed” to “mostly unfree.” Six others, including
Angola, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau and Seychelles, have registered sustained growth in
economic freedom over the past five years.
However, Sub-Saharan Africa has nine “repressed” economies, the highest of any region.
“It remains to be seen whether the region’s political leaders have the political will to undertake
the fundamental economic reforms that are needed to translate narratives of ‘Africa Rising’ into
reality,” the Index editors write.
The world average score of 60.4 is only one-tenth of a point above the 2014 average, but
represents a 2.8-point overall improvement since the inception of the Index in 1995. Thirty-seven
countries, including Taiwan, Israel, Poland and Colombia, achieved their highest-ever Index
scores. Among the 178 countries ranked, scores improved for 101 countries and declined for 73.
The 2015 Index was edited by Ambassador Terry Miller, director of Heritage’s Center for
Trade and Economics and Center for Data Analysis; and Anthony B. Kim, senior policy analyst
in the Center for Trade and Economics. Copies of the Index (492 pages, $24.95) may be ordered
online at www.heritage.org/index or by calling 1-800-975-8625. The full text, including charts
and graphs, also is available online.
About The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is a global news organization that provides leading news, information, commentary and
analysis. Published by Dow Jones which has nearly 2,000 journalists in more than 75 bureaus globally, The Wall
Street Journal engages readers across print, digital, mobile, social, and video. Building on its heritage as the
preeminent source of global business and financial news, the Journal includes coverage of U.S. & world news,
politics, arts, culture, lifestyle, sports, and health. It holds 35 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism.
About The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation is the nation’s most broadly supported public policy research institute, with hundreds of
thousands of individual, foundation and corporate donors. Founded in 1973, Heritage develops public policy
solutions that advance free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional values and a strong
national defense.