Survey reveals Africans back media’s watchdog role, but freedom is slipping
By Omar Bah
Africans overwhelmingly want the media to police their governments but they just don’t agree on whether that media is free, according to a latest Afrobarometer survey.
The new Afrobarometer Pan-Africa Profile, based on 45,600 interviews in 38 countries in 2024/2025, revealed that the continent supports press freedom, but governments are choking it.
At least 72% of Africans say the media must hold governments accountable.
Support for the watchdog role is the majority view in every country surveyed including The Gambia. It tops 80% in Mauritius, 86%; Nigeria, 83%; Uganda and Ghana, 82% each; Congo-Brazzaville and Chad, 81% each.
Even where support is weakest, the public still rejects silence.
In Mozambique, 58%, Angola, 56%, and São Tomé and Príncipe, 54%, only minorities want media to avoid reporting on government mistakes and corruption.
Nearly two-thirds, 65%, back media freedom over government regulation. Majorities in all but two countries agree: Tanzania, 49%, and Mali, 27%, stand alone.
In Mauritius, 86%, Seychelles, 85%, Congo-Brazzaville, 80%, Lesotho, 77%, Chad, 76%, and Botswana, 76%, support for a free press is overwhelming.
But Mali is the warning. A large majority there wants government to control what media can publish. That is not an outlier. It is a red flag.
According to the survey, majority of Africans want free media but only 53% say their media is actually free while 43% say it is censored or under government interference.
81% of Tanzanians say their media is free. So do 77% in Liberia. Then the floor drops: 28% in Comoros. Just 16% in Congo-Brazzaville.
Across 30 countries tracked since 2019/2021, the share on who see media as free fell 4 points. Guinea crashed 34 points, Lesotho and Nigeria each fell 22 points and Botswana dropped 20.
Liberia surged 58 points — from least free to second-most free, Gabon gained 24, Zambia rose 22 but they are exceptions, not the rule.