NAMIBIA has improved its national performance but its ranking remained unchanged at sixth place in the latest report on African governance released by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

The index also showed that two thirds of sub-Saharan African countries have improved their governance performance, with notable progress in participation and human rights.

It said between 2005 and 2006 Namibia improved its overall score to 70,9 out of 100 but its ranking remained unchanged at sixth place out of sub-Saharan Africa's 48 countries.

According to the index's comprehensive measures of governance performance, Namibia improved in the rule of law, transparency and corruption, and sustainable economic opportunity.

In safety and security, Namibia's score remained consistent while the scores fell in the categories of participation and human rights and human development.

Namibia's most notable movement was in rule of law, transparency and corruption where the country's score rose by 2,7 points.

A number of countries within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) demonstrated strong performance in the Ibrahim index, with five members of SADC ranking in the top ten overall and a further seven members ranking in the top half.

From SADC, Zimbabwe was the only country in the region to fall in both score and rank.

In southern Africa, Namibia ranked fifth out of 16 members.

Two thirds of sub-Saharan African countries have improved their governance performance during the last year, according to the index.

For the second year running, Mauritius tops the index, scoring 85,1 this year.

Membership of the top five remained unchanged and was comprised of Seychelles, Cape Verde, Botswana and South Africa, all of which scored over 71 while Namibia scored 67.

The Ibrahim index assesses national governance against 57 criteria that capture the quality of services provided to citizens by governments.

The focus is on the results that the people of a country experience.

These criteria are divided into five overarching categories which together make up the core obligations which governments have to their citizens.

The full board of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation convened in Addis Ababa, the home of the African Union, to make the announcement yesterday.