Madar (International) - Democracy and rights are declining in Africa as leaders take their cues from the rise of strongmen elsewhere in the world, Sudanese-British businessman Mo Ibrahim said in an interview with AFP published by Africanews on Sunday, November 1, 2026.
Ibrahim, 80, who made his fortune in telecoms and funds governance monitoring across Africa through his foundation, said its latest report finds broad progress on economic opportunity and human development over the past decade, but steep declines in security, human rights and public participation, at a time when the continent has seen several military coups and devastating wars.
According to the index, 30 countries, home to half of Africa's population, had better overall governance scores in 2025 than in 2016, largely thanks to improved economies, while 23 deteriorated and one was unchanged. Seven of the 10 countries with the biggest declines experienced at least one coup over the decade, including Burkina Faso, which recorded the largest deterioration, while Nigeria, Sudan and Tunisia were also among the worst performers.
Ibrahim pointed to elections over the past year in Tanzania, where security forces were accused of killing thousands of protesters, and Uganda, where he said opposition leader Bobi Wine was "hunted and physically attacked". "It is a strange era... we can see this phenomenon of the rise of strongmen everywhere," he said. "If you're an African leader and you see all those strong people rising everywhere... you say, why not me too? I can get away with it."
He partly blamed the decline of liberal democracy worldwide, from the United States to Europe and Russia, saying the Trump administration's switch to a "transactional kind of diplomacy" was "weakening the international order and the rule of law". He called Washington's decision last year to suddenly terminate USAID "brutal": "Of course, it is a prerogative of US to give aid or not. But please give notice."
Africa needs to "depend more on ourselves" and work with all willing partners, "whether it is Europe, whether China or India", Ibrahim said. His hope lies in the continent's youth: 60 percent of Africans are under 25, and by 2050 one in three young people worldwide will be African. "We wasted Africa, our generation, I must admit that," he said.
