Sudanese-British billionaire Mo Ibrahim, 80, stated that democracy and human rights are deteriorating in Africa as regional leaders emulate the rise of strongmen globally.
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation's latest report indicates that while there has been broad progress in human development and economic opportunity over the last decade, there have been sharp declines in public participation, security, and human rights.
Ibrahim pointed to elections in Tanzania over the past year, where security forces were accused of killing thousands of protesters, and noted that opposition leader Bobi Wine was "hunted and physically attacked" in Uganda.
“It’s just disgraceful,” said Ibrahim. The index revealed that 30 countries, representing half of Africa's population, showed improved governance scores in 2025 compared to 2016, though 23 countries saw deterioration and one remained unchanged. Ibrahim attributed the erosion of rights partly to the decline of liberal democracy in regions including Europe, Russia, and the United States.
“It is a strange era … we can see this phenomenon of the rise of strongmen everywhere,” Ibrahim said.
He added, “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.” Seven of the 10 countries experiencing the most significant declines underwent at least one coup during the decade, with Burkina Faso recording the greatest deterioration.
Nigeria, Sudan, and Tunisia were also identified as among the worst performers in the report.
Washington's decision last year to suddenly terminate USAID ended billions of dollars in support for African nations, a move Ibrahim described as “brutal.”
“Of course, it is a prerogative of US to give aid or not,” Ibrahim said, adding, “But please give notice.”
“We need to depend more on ourselves. And we need to work with all partners who are willing to work with Africa, whether it is Europe, whether China or India or whoever,” said Ibrahim. Currently, 60 per cent of Africans are under the age of 25, and by 2050, one in three young people globally will be African.
“They are much better informed, much better educated than the past generation,” said Ibrahim.
“We wasted Africa, our generation, I must admit that. We really wasted some opportunities,” Ibrahim said.
