A latest report by the World Bank shows that Rwanda achieved the highest score in Sub Saharan Africa in an index dubbed Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA).

The report released in Abidjan Tuesday indicates that seven countries out of 38 registered improvement while another 12 saw a decline in their performance, according to a World Bank statement.

CPIA scores assess the quality of countries’ policy and institutional progress using 16 development indicators in four areas: economic management, structural policies, policies for social inclusion and equity, and public sector management and institutions. Countries are rated on a scale of 1 (low) to 6 (high) for each indicator.

The assessment rates the performance and challenges of countries in order to determine the allocation of low to zero-interest financing and grants for countries that are eligible for support from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA).

"With a series of policy reforms, Rwanda continues to lead all countries with a CPIA score of 4.0 followed by Cabo Verde, Kenya, and Senegal, all with a 3.8 score. Improvements in several policy areas reversed the slide in Ghana’s score, lifting the country’s CPIA score from 3.4 in 2014 to 3.6 in 2015,” reads part of the statement.

According to the statement, countries transitioning out of violence saw modest improvements. Côte d’Ivoire (3.3), which has enjoyed four consecutive years of wide-ranging reforms and improvements in CPIA scores, saw stronger performance in equity of public resource use in 2015, but this did not translate into an improvement in the country’s aggregate CPIA score.

By contrast, both Burundi (3.1) and The Gambia (2.9) saw the CPIA score drop from last year’s rating, underscoring that conflict and weak governance can set back policy gains and development progress, it says.

"Although there are a number of highly performing countries, African countries on average continue to lag behind those in other regions in their policy and institutional ratings,” says Albert Zeufack, World Bank Chief Economist for Africa. 

He added: "Urgent action is needed as more countries are facing downward pressure on the current account and fiscal balances, declining reserve positions, depreciating currencies, higher inflation, and rising debt burdens.”