The latest report from the Mo Ibrahim Foundation on the 2024 African elections, entitled “Reviewing Africa’s 2024 Election Year” and published in December 2024, reveals a year marked by significant political changes. Of the 17 elections initially scheduled, 13 actually took place, resulting in changes in several countries.
Four historic transitions have particularly attracted attention. In Botswana, the victory of President Duma Boko ended nearly 60 years of rule by the BDP party. Ghana saw the return of John Dramani Mahama to
power. In Mauritius, the Alliance for Change won a landslide victory with 60 out of 64 seats in Parliament. Senegal, after a controversial postponement of elections, also witnessed an alternation. PASTEF with its candidate, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, came to power in the first round.
However, seven countries maintained the political status quo namely Algeria, Chad, Comoros, Mauritania, Rwanda, South Africa and Tunisia.
South Africa, however, has a particularity: for the first time since 1994, the ANC lost its absolute majority, forcing the party to form a coalition.
The report highlights certain institutional developments. Between 2014 and 2023, citizen participation deteriorated in 14 of the 17 countries concerned. The situation of civil rights deteriorated in 15 countries,
while media freedom was restricted in 15 countries between 2021 and 2023.
Four countries did not hold their elections as planned: Burkina Faso, Mali, South Sudan and Guinea-Bissau. These elections have been postponed to later dates.
For 2025, the African electoral calendar provides for elections in eleven countries, including Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania. The vote in Gabon should mark the beginning of a transition to civilian rule after the 2023 coup.
The document also highlights points of vigilance, particularly concerning the elections in Tunisia and Mozambique where disputes have emerged over the regularity of the electoral processes. Tunisia recorded a turnout of 29 percent and the Mozambican vote was marked by protests.
The Foundation notes that this election year, despite its successes in terms of alternation, also reveals the persistent fragility of certain democratic processes on the continent.
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