Ghana moves 3 places up in latest Press Freedom global ranking index

Ghana’s ranking on the Global Press Freedom Index has shot up three levels, making it the best in Africa.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) now ranks Ghana 23rd out of 180 countries in its 2018 global press freedom ranking.

Namibia and South Africa occupied the 26th and 28th positions respectively, with Eritrea coming last at 179th position.

The indicators for ranking of countries of the world by RSF are based on their media independence, the presence or absence of self-censorship, the rule of law in a country, and transparency.

The indicators also take into account, the number of violations and attacks on journalists; (in this case, from January 1 to December 31, 2017.)

Ghana’s latest ranking on the global index, a positive move from 26th to 23rd in the 2017 global rankings, formed the basis for Ghana being selected to host the global World Freedom Day Conference of May 2-3 2018 among other considerations.

The choice of Ghana as host of the Conference, over other countries with strong democratic credentials, was in recognition of its free media environment and atmosphere of media independence.

Welcoming the news, the obviously-elated Ghanaian Minister for Information, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, emphasized that the latest ranking is a testament of Ghana’s growing democratic credentials, particularly with regard to press freedom.

He added: “The latest ranking of Ghana by Reporters Without Borders speaks volumes about our growing democratic credentials as a country It demonstrates how far we have come, as a nation, with regard to freedom of the press.”