Trending 
African democracy and civil rights are experiencing sharp declines as national leaders adopt the autocratic methods of global strongmen, according to Mo Ibrahim, founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.
The Sudanese-British telecoms billionaire cautioned that while economic opportunities and human development have expanded over the past decade, governance, public safety, and human rights have deteriorated significantly amid a wave of military coups and armed conflicts across the continent.
Ibrahim attributed this democratic backsliding to global trends in the United States, Europe, and Russia, where the rise of strongman politics and transactional diplomacy has weakened international norms.
He pointed to recent election violence in Tanzania and the physical targeting of opposition figures in Uganda as evidence of rising authoritarianism.
The foundation’s governance index revealed that while 30 African nations improved overall governance between 2016 and 2025 due to economic gains, 23 countries deteriorated, with seven of the 10 steepest drops occurring in nations that suffered military coups, including Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tunisia.
Despite these governance setbacks and the sudden termination of USAID funding, Ibrahim emphasised that Africa’s economic resilience forces the continent toward greater self-reliance and diversified international partnerships.
He identified Africa’s expanding youth demographic as the primary catalyst for long-term reform, noting that better-educated, highly informed young people are increasingly positioned to repair the governance mistakes of previous generations.
