Africa covers about one-fifth of the total land surface of Earth, making it the second-largest continent. Interestingly, Africa is the second-largest continent, it contains only about 10 percent of the world’s population (Smeldely et al., 2021). According to the United Nations, there are 54 countries in the continent. Africa is not only rich in diverse natural resources like water bodies and wild animals but also in culture and economy. However, despite its cultural diversity, there are only four different types of government in the continent. This article aims at giving an overview of the political situation in Africa.
The political situation in Africa
In the past, most of the African nations were colonized by Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Italy. But African nations won their independence, one after the other in the 1960s giving them the opportunities to establish their own forms of government. After winning independence from their colonizers, most African countries were under the one-party rule and one-man rule, but in the past recent years, democracy has made some impressive gains across the continent. As of 2018, seven African countries are ranked as flawed democracies, 17 are hybrid that is between authoritarian rule and democracy, while 25 are classified as authoritarian, and a few have the monarchy leaderships (Addis & Zhu, 2018).
Africa is known for political instability within its countries, despite the major advancements made in democracy. Political instability has been one of the obstacle to economic development and civilization in the continent, which has seen the continent experience civil wars, genocides, political assassinations, insurgencies and terrorism. There are countries for example South Sudan that experience political based violence and the majority of the political leaders in Africa face corruption allegations (Hemed, 2019). The political systems in African countries are almost similar with little to no change. Countries hold elections and change leaderships, but this does not create more democratic and responsive governments.
Africa has seen diversity in its leadership, where it has embraced women in leadership. There has been seven female presidents in the continent, and currently there are two female presidents in power. The political regime and governance in Africa has experienced major developments and advancement. Democratic progress that has been adopted in most countries, for example Eastern African countries has achieved economic transformation. Another common feature of the political situation in Africa is the extension of the presidential term limit. An example of this is the famous regime of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, who was in power from 1987 to 2017. President Daniel Arap Moi in Kenya, was in power for 24 years, and President Yoweri Museveni who has been in power since 1986 (Van Wyk, 2007).
In conclusion, poor governance in many African countries has led to stunted economic growth, political instability and unrest through the continent. However, the democratic progress adapted by the countries has seen the development of new constitutions, emergence of new political leaders, participation in free and fair elections and creation of new business relationships with developed countries. Despite its numerous challenges, the political situation of Africa is slowly improving.
