Has Western Democracy Worked For Africa?

More than thirty years after Africa’s embrace of Western-style liberal democracy, questions continue to mount about whether the model has truly delivered on its promises of stability, prosperity, and good governance.

Countries like Nigeria, which returned to civilian rule in 1999, still grapple with the same structural issues that democracy was expected to solve. Corruption remains rampant, insecurity continues to rise, and poverty has worsened, evident in the shocking statistic that over 133 million Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty (NBS, 2022), despite the country being Africa’s largest economy.

Electoral credibility and civic freedoms have also come under scrutiny. The 2023 general elections in Nigeria resulted in over 700 legal disputes, casting doubt on the strength of democratic institutions. Meanwhile, Freedom House has rated Nigeria as “Partly Free” with a democracy score of just 44 out of 100 as of 2024. These realities raise a critical question: has the adoption of Western democracy truly served Africa’s unique context and challenges, or is it time to rethink governance models on the continent?