PREVIEW
Interviewees are frustrated with civilian governments but majority still favour democracy over military juntas
Support for democracy across Africa appears is ebbing due to falling governance standards, according to a new annual survey covering 39 African states by the Accra-based think tank Afrobarometer.
Among the 66% of Africans who told interviewers say they prefer democracy to any other system, there is growing frustration with government performance in specific jurisdictions. Support for democracy has dropped by 29 points in South Africa, now a year into its first coalition government since the end of apartheid; and it fell 23 points in Mali which has been ruled by an increasingly repressive junta since 2020.
The polling also suggests that opposition to military rule has softened, particularly in Mali and Burkina Faso (by 40 and 36 points, respectively); but it is unclear how much that changed can explained by the growing state repression in Bamako and Ouagadougou and relentless social media campaigns.
Across the continent, 45% of Africans think their countries are mostly or completely democratic. But only 37% say they are satisfied with the way democracy works in their nations.
The survey also assesses attitudes towards international actors in Africa. China has the best reputation, with 60% saying it has a positive influence, higher than African sub-regional organisations, 56%, with the African Union on 54% (AC Vol 65 No 19, Beijing leads battle for influence).
The Trump administration’s suspension of aid and withdrawal of support for multilateral institutions may partly explain the fall in the United States’ standing in Africa. But it is still more popular than its European counterparts: 53% told Afrobarometer that the US has a positive political and economic influence on African countries (AC Vol 66 No 9, Ruto pivots from Washington to Beijing).
Some 49% of Africans have a positive view of the European Union, though that is significantly higher than former colonial rulers, such as the Britain and France, which are on 41% and 36% respectively.
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