Around two thirds of African countries have improved in the field of governance over the past year, according to the latest index released on Monday by a London-based foundation dedicated to the issue.

"New data shows that two-thirds of sub-Saharan African countries have improved governance performances. Thirty-one out of 48 countries have recorded an improvement," Mo Ibrahim, director of the foundation which bears his name, announced at a press conference in Addis Ababa.

"Obscured by many of the headlines of the past few months, the real story coming out of Africa is that governance performance across a large majority of African countries is improving," he said.

"I hope these results will be used as a tool by African civil society to hold their governments to account."

The report by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation said that respect for human rights and political participation also had vastly improved in Africa.

It singled out Liberia as having achieved the most progress over the past year to rank 38th in the index.

"More sub-Saharan African countries than ever are holding democratic elections, and I am hopeful that this will help form the platform for continued progress across the continent," said Mary Robinson, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and member of the Mo Ibrahim prize committee.

Africa's small island nations topped the rankings, with Mauritius retaining top spot with 85.1 points out of 100, ahead of the Seychelles and Cape Verde.

South Africa's position

Fourth and fifth were Botswana and South Africa, while war-torn Somalia remained in last place, dropping more points since 2007 to score 18.9.

"The Horn of Africa was the only region to see an average decrease in score during this period," the report said, with Ethiopia dropping one place, primarily because of its human rights record.

The index was produced on the basis of data gathered between 2005 and 2006 in sub-Saharan African countries.

Mo Ibrahim is a wealthy Sudanese-born British telecom magnate who created a foundation aimed at fostering good governance on the continent and attracting more investment.

The foundation also grants an award for African leadership aimed at encouraging good governance at the highest level. The prize money is around three times that granted by the Nobel jury.

Last year, former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano was the first winner of prize, which consists of $5-million over 10 years and then $200 000 a year.

Besides Robinson, this year's prize committee included former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

AFP