Africa - 19 February 2024
19 Feb 2024
AFRICA
Democracy Index 2023 for Sub-Saharan Africa from the The Economist Intelligence Unit. The aggregate index score for Sub-Saharan Africa declined in 2023, falling from 4.14 in 2022 to a historical low of 4.04. Democratic regression in the region in large part reflects the increase in the number military regimes across the continent. A total of 25 of the 54 states in Africa have experienced one or more coups or coup attempts over the past two decades. A military coup in Niger in July completed the military takeover of governments stretching across the Sahel, from Guinea in the West to Sudan (included in the Middle East and North Africa region of the Democracy Index) in the east. The rise in military rule has in part been facilitated by growing public dissatisfaction with political systems and widespread poverty.
The failure of political incumbents to uphold democratic values and deliver good governance and economic progress has discredited electoral democracy for increasing numbers of Africans. Some surveys have shown growing popular approval for military rule in several African countries—as was the case in Gabon and Niger—as trust in purportedly democratic political elites eroded further in 2023. The decline in the continent’s score was driven by a broad-based deterioration across all five categories of the Democracy Index. A substantial decline in the electoral process and pluralism category was driven by the cascade of successful and attempted coups in 2023.
The functioning of government category—the score for which declined marginally in 2023—is the lowest-scoring category in the region, at 3.09, and the second-lowest score of any region but the Middle East and North Africa. The region’s scores for political participation, political culture and civil liberties all declined in 2023. Eighteen of the region’s 44 countries registered a deterioration in their score, with the sharpest declines recorded in Niger (-1.36), Gabon (-1.22), Sierra Leone (-0.71), Mali (-65), and Madagascar (-44). The scores for nine countries improved—albeit from a low base—with the biggest improvements being in Benin (+0.40), Tanzania (+0.25) and Angola (+0.22). The region continues to have only one “full democracy”—Mauritius—and six “flawed democracies”, the same as in the 2022 index. The number of countries classified as “hybrid regimes” increased to 15, up from 14 in 2022, as Angola improved its score for political participation. As a result, the number of “authoritarian regimes” decreased to 22, but this remains the most prevalent form of government in Africa. (Source)