Africa democracy declines in 'strongmen' era, Ibrahim says

Democracy and rights are declining in Africa as leaders draw lessons from the rise of strongmen elsewhere, governance monitor founder Mo Ibrahim told AFP.

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation's latest report finds broad progress across Africa over the past decade in economic opportunity and human development, but declines in security, human rights and public participation.

Its index says 30 countries, home to half of Africa's population, had better overall governance scores in 2025 than in 2016, largely because of improved economies. It says 23 countries deteriorated and one was unchanged.

Ibrahim said Africa's rights decline was partly linked to weakening liberal democracy elsewhere, including in the United States, Europe and Russia. He said the Trump administration's shift to more transactional diplomacy was weakening the international order and the rule of law.

The report says some of the sharpest declines were in large countries and were often linked to reduced political rights. It says seven of the 10 countries with the biggest declines experienced at least one coup over the decade, with Burkina Faso recording the largest deterioration. Nigeria, Sudan and Tunisia were also among the worst performers.

Ibrahim also cited elections over the past year in Tanzania, where security forces were accused of killing thousands of protesters, and Uganda, where he said opposition leader Bobi Wine was "hunted and physically attacked".

He said Washington's 2025 decision to terminate USAID, ending billions of dollars of support to African countries, was "brutal", though he said Africa had so far proved fairly resilient and needed to depend more on itself and work with willing partners.