African Citizens Show Increasing Support for Media Freedom, Afrobarometer Survey Finds

The report shows that citizens in 36 surveyed countries endorse the media’s watchdog role in investigating and reporting on government mistakes and corruption. A majority of Africans assess their country’s media as “somewhat” or “completely” free. However, Gabon, Eswatini, the Ivory Coast, and Cameroon register large majorities who describe their country’s media as “not very free” or “not at all free.”

On average across 36 African countries, two-thirds (65 per cent) of citizens “agree” or “strongly agree” that the media should have the right to publish any views and ideas without government control. Support for media freedom has increased by 12 percentage points across 30 countries surveyed in both 2014/2015 and 2021/2022. The report said close to six in 10 (58 per cent) say the media in their country was “completely” or “somewhat” free.

For the most part, perceived media freedom was highest in Tanzania (81 per cent), The Gambia (79 per cent), Tunisia (76 per cent), and Mauritania (75 per cent). The survey covered 36 countries, including Mauritius, Sudan, Guinea, Morocco, Niger, the Ivory Coast, South Africa, Malawi, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Seychelles, and Mauritania.

Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan survey research network that provides reliable research findings. Its national partners conduct face-to-face data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance, and quality of life. Since 1999, eight survey rounds in up to 39 countries have been completed. Round 9 surveys of 1,200 to 2,400 adult citizens, yielding country-level results with margins of error interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice with nationally representative samples of +/-2 to +/-3 percentage points at a 95 per cent confidence level.

In summary, the report indicates that support for media freedom is on the rise in Africa, with the majority of citizens endorsing the media’s watchdog role in investigating and reporting on government mistakes and corruption. While perceived media freedom is high in some countries, others have expressed concerns about the level of media freedom in their countries. Overall, the report underscores the importance of a free and independent media in Africa.