The Ibrahim Index of African Governance: grounding the selection of its conceptual indicators into theoretical frameworks

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) is a structured mechanism measuring Africa's governance quality. As a ranking mechanism that encompasses 93 indicators, it is commended for being a wide-ranging collection of data on African governance. Although its quantitative methodology is clearly explained, there is a lack of theoretical articulation as to why the conceptual indicators that are used in the measurements have been included. This paper embeds the conceptual indicators used into theoretical frameworks in order to inform the relationship between the variables used and their impact on governance. Rather than imposing a preconceived theory on the data, this paper seeks to strengthen the IIAG's methodology by using grounded theory's principles to explain the rationale for including the indicators in measuring governance. The conclusion reached is that the reasoning for the selection of the indicators used for representing governance should be theoretically defended because their relationship with governance is not selfexplanatory.