Top 10 African countries most dissatisfied with democracy in 2024

Despite the promise of freedom, participation, and representation, dissatisfaction with democracy is growing across parts of Africa. In countries like Nigeria, Guinea, South Africa and Angola, frustrations with governance, corruption, and socio-economic inequality have left many citizens disillusioned with their political systems.

According to a survey by Afrobarometer across 39 countries, a majority of Africans say they would accept a military takeover of government if elected leaders were abusing power.

For many, it feels like the whole system is rigged—elections are often seen as manipulated, the rich and powerful control everything, and those in charge just aren’t doing their jobs well. This has left a lot of citizens questioning if democracy is working for them.

The Afrobarometer survey shows that over the past decade, there has been an average drop of 11 percentage points in satisfaction with democracy across Africa. This includes a significant decline in several countries known for their strong democratic foundations, such as Botswana (-40 points), Mauritius (-40 points), South Africa (-35 points), Ghana (-23 points), and Namibia (-12 points).

Overall, 16 countries have seen double-digit drops in satisfaction with democracy, while only two—Togo (+12 points) and Zimbabwe (+15 points)—have shown comparable gains.

In fact, only six countries saw improvements of at least 4 points. Among the least satisfied nations are Gabon (7%), Congo-Brazzaville (15%), and Eswatini (11%).