Monrovia — Despite democratic backsliding and declining political freedom in some countries across the region, Africans demonstrate more “favourable engagement” with governance compared to other parts of the world. This is the finding from Afrobarometer’s 2025 flagship report African Insights 2025: Citizen Engagement, Citizen Power: Africans Claim the Promise of Democracy which assessed citizen participation across 39 African nations.
The report, the second in a series analyzing “high-priority topics” and trends over the past decade, is based on research by the pan-African group. Founded in 1999, Afrobarometer conducts opinion surveys on perceptions of democracy, governance, and socio-economic issues, and the latest findings were drawn from over 50,000 interviews.
“At a time when news about the health of our democracies can be sobering, citizens’ resolve to engage, organize, build, vote, and speak out remains a powerful source of hope,” said Afrobarometer Board Chair Amina Oyagbola. She was optimistic that current levels of participation could help secure “democratic, accountable, and inclusive governance” across the continent.
The report found that on average, three-quarters of Africans voted last year in national elections – including nine out of 10 in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Seychelles – while more than 60% “occasionally” or “frequently” discuss politics with family and friends.
Last year, according to the report, almost half of the respondents attended political party meetings at least once, “ranging from 11 percent in Tunisia to 85 percent in Madagascar”. More than one in four joined others to raise issues, while significant percentages regularly contacted a traditional leader, local government councillor, members of parliament, and political party officials.
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However, the report showed a “marked decline” in political party affiliation over the past decade, with identification dropping in every surveyed country except Morocco.
At the report’s launch in Accra, Afrobarometer Senior Analyst Rorisang Lekalake said voting remains the dominant form of engagement, while protesting is the least. Younger Africans (ages 18–35) were less likely to participate except in protests. She also said government responsiveness fosters engagement: “More democracy leads to more engagement.”
Contrary to “expectation generated from Western Democracies”, the report found that poorer and less-educated Africans participate more in political and civic activities than their wealthier, more educated counterparts.
While celebrating rising engagement, particularly among rural residents who “outperformed urbanites”, the report criticised the gaps for women and youth, who remain less politically engaged than men and older generations.
“The most important office in a democracy is the office of citizen,” said Professor Audrey Gadzekpo during a panel discussion at the launch. Gadzekpo described the findings as reflective of an interesting and evolving trend.