Majority of Africans continue to choose democracy over any other form of government, Afrobarometer’s latest survey reveals
Addis Ababa ( Ethiopia) February 23, 2023 :- Africans show unwavering commitment to democracy and democratic norms; Majorities prefer democracy and favor elections, media freedom, and presidential terms limits.
Majority of Africans continue to choose democracy over any other form of government, according to Afrobarometer’s latest survey. More than six in 10 of those polled prefer an accountable government, even if it is ineffective.
The leadership of Afrobarometer shared some of these research findings that touched on elections, climate change, governance, and economic conditions with the presence of journalists, civil society organisations, researchers, and other stakeholders.
CEO Joseph Asunka highlighted some of Afrobarometer’s significant milestones for 2022, including the completion of a 10-year strategy, which will guide Afrobarometer surveys and related activities in the next five survey rounds.
Afrobarometer completed 33 country surveys in 2022 where more than 40,000 individual interviews with citizens across the continent, covering urban and rural areas.
On governance, Asunka said the overall picture was encouraging, with widespread popular support for democratic practices. “Across the continent, the good news is Africans are still solidly committed to democracy; that remains the majority view. They prefer democracy to any other form of government,” Asunka said, adding that a clear majority of Africans remain in favour of elections, parliamentary oversight of the president, media freedom, and limits on presidential tenure.
In 20 countries surveyed in 2021/2022, 67% of Africans expressed a preference for democracy “over any other kind of government” and rejected non-democratic alternatives such as one-man rule 81%.
Participants heard that most Africans describe their economic conditions as bad and give governments poor performance ratings on critical economic issues such as job creation and management of the economy.
Unemployment remains the top policy priority cited by Africans 35% followed closely by management of the economy 34%.
On climate change, only about half 51% of citizens say they have heard of climate change, and three-fourths 74% of those who are aware of climate change want their governments to take climate action no matter the economic costs.
“The year 2022 was a remarkable one. Firstly, we surveyed an impressive 33 countries that year, a record-breaking achievement in a single calendar year and the first of its kind in our history. Even more important, the demand for our data and analysis from policy and development stakeholders on the continent and abroad surged dramatically,” Gyimah-Boadi said.
“As we look ahead, we remain steadfast in our mission to continually share data-driven insights and evidence-based policy options. And we are confident that our efforts will generate tangible outcomes for citizens,” said Gyimah-Boadi.
Director of Surveys Boniface Dulani, Director of Analysis Carolyn Logan, head of data management Jamy Felton, and capacity building manager Dominique Dryding provided expert insights during the in-depth conversation, moderated by Afrobarometer director of communications Nafissatou Diouf.
