The latest edition of Afrobarometer, an opinion poll covering almost all African countries, concluded that more than half of Africans accept that a military coup could occur if leaders " abuse power for their own benefit ."

According to the Afrobarometer survey, the most comprehensive on democracy in Africa, Africans want more democratic governance than they currently have, but supporting democracy will require strengthening integrity in national governments and greater official accountability.

“The African democratic project faces challenging times.”

“There are increasing warnings that democracy is losing ground on the continent.”

“More than half of Africans, 53% across 39 countries, are willing to accept a military coup if elected leaders abuse power for themselves.”

The Afrobarometer reports a set of indicators regarding Africans' perception of the implementation of democracy in their countries.

Among the main conclusions of the report, which analyzed 39 countries, is that 66% support for democracy over any other form of government. However, support for democracy fell by 7 percentage points compared to the previous edition, notably in South Africa, with a drop of 29 points, and in Mali, with a drop of 23 points.

Less than half of Africans (45%) think their country is mostly or fully democratic, and only 37% are satisfied with democracy in their country, representing a drop of 00 and 8 points, respectively, compared to the last decade.

“Citizens' dissatisfaction with the performance of democracy is strongly associated with perceived declines in both socioeconomic and political performance.”

It is also stated in the Afrobarometer that it concludes, on a positive note, that despite the data, support for democracy as a system of government is more resilient than economic or social deficiencies”.

However, where there is a greater decline in support for democracy, it is in situations linked to adverse changes in political performance, such as declining election quality, rising levels of corruption, or failure to promote the rule of law.

Afrobarometer is a pan-African , non-partisan survey network that provides information on experiences and assessments of democracy, governance, and quality of life on the continent, according to its website, which states that the data for this year's edition was collected between 2021 and 2023 in 39 African countries.