the partnership of free speech & good governance in africa

WWW.AFROBAROMETER.ORG

The Partnership of Free Speech and Good

Governance in Africa


What is the Afrobarometer?

The Afrobarometer (AB) is a comparative series of public opinion surveysthat measure public attitudes toward democracy, governance, the economy,leadership, identity, and other related issues.

The AB is an independent, non-partisan, African-based network ofresearchers.

The first round of surveys took place in 1999-2001 in 12 countries. TheNetwork is now conducting “Round 5” surveys in up to 35 countries during2011-2013.

Purpose: To measure popular perspectives on the social, political, andeconomic environments in each country where it is implemented and acrossAfrica.

Goal: To give the public a voice in policy making processes by providinghigh-quality public opinion data to policy-makers, policy advocates and civilsociety organizations, academics, media, donors and investors, and ordinaryAfricans.

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Country Coverage: 1999-2013

Round 1, 1999-2001, 12 countries

• Southern Africa: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa,

Zambia, Zimbabwe

• West Africa: Ghana, Mali, Nigeria

• East Africa: Tanzania, Uganda


• Cape Verde, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal


• Benin, Madagascar


• Burkina Faso, Liberia

Round 5, 2011-2013, up to 35 countries

• Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Togo, Tunisia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Swaziland

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Who is Afrobarometer

A Pan-African Network of survey researchers and analysts.

• In each country there is a National Partner responsible for survey implementation.

• Four Core Partners provide technical assistance and Network management:

o Center for Democratic Development (CDD), Ghana

o Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), South Africa

o Institute for Development Studies (IDS), University of Nairobi, Kenya

o Institute for Empirical Research in Political Economy (IREEP), Benin

• Two Support Units for capacity building and quality assurance

o Michigan State University

o University of Cape Town

• Round 5 Core Funders include

– DFID

– SIDA

– USAID

– Mo Ibrahim Foundation

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Survey Methodology

• Nationally representative sample of adult citizens

– all respondents are randomly selected

– every adult citizen has an equal and known chance of being selected

• Face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice

• Standard survey instrument across all countries for comparability

• These 34-country results therefore represent the views of approximately

three-quarters (76%) of the continent’s population with a margin of

error of +/-2% at a 95% confidence level.

• The total number of respondents in the 34 countries was 51,605.

• Results from a 35th country, Ethiopia, will be available shortly.

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Global Dissemination Events

• 01 October 2013 - Johannesburg -- Lived poverty and the Economy

• 16 October 2013 - Nairobi -- Globalization and the Freedom to Communicate

• 30 October 2013 - Accra -- Governance and Resource Management

• 13 November 2013 - Dakar -- Corruption and Attitudes toward China

• 27 November 2013 - Lagos -- Taxation

• 4 December 2013 - Addis Ababa -- Gender

• 12 December 2013 - Bamako -- Democracy

•

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SURVEY FINDINGS


Freedom of Speech, 34

countries, 2011 - 2013

• Just half of Africans (49%) across 34 countries say that they are

‘completely free’ to say what they think, while another quarter (26%)

say they are at least ‘somewhat free’.

Open countries like Malawi, Tanzania and Liberia – where at least three-

quarters of citizens feel completely free to express themselves –

Contrasts sharply with their much more restricted counterparts,

including Burkina Faso, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and

Sudan, where only about one in four see it this way.

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Participants were asked: "In this country, how free are you to say what you think?" (% who say completely free)

Freedom of Speech, 34 countries, 2011 - 2013

Participants were asked: "In this country, how free are you to say what you think?" (% who say completely free)

7976 75 74 73 73

6865

63 6260

57 57 5755 55 53 53 52 52

49

45

4138

34 33 3331 30

24 2422 21 21

19

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Demand for media freedom,

34 countries, 2011 - 2013

• Popular demand for media freedom is solid, with 57% endorsing

an unfettered right to publish; the proportions range from 52% in

West Africa to 72% among East Africans.

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Demand for media freedom, 34 countries, 2011 - 2013

Participants were asked: "Which of these statements is closest to your view? Choose statement 1 or statement 2:

Statement 1: The media should have the right to publish any views and ideas without government control.

Statement 2: The government should have the right to prevent the media from publishing things that it considers harmful

to society."

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83%

80%

73%

70%

68%

57%

49%

48%

48%

47%

44%

40%

37%

29%

7%

2%

1%

12%

2%

5%

6%

3%

2%

2%

2%

3%

10%

3%

10%

18%

26%

18%

30%

39%

46%

49%

50%

52%

54%

57%

53%

68%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Cape Verde

Uganda

Tanzania

Madagascar

Burundi

AVERAGE

Sudan

Cote d'Ivoire

Guinea

Liberia

Mali

Lesotho

Cameroon

Senegal

Freedom to publish Don't know / neither Government control


Role of media in society

• Media to constantly investigate and report government mistakes and corruption– Solid majority (69%) support media role of oversight

– Uganda highest (85%), along with Cape Verde (83%), Mauritius (81%)

– Only Algeria and Swaziland fail to win support for this position from a majority (49% and 50%, respectively)

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Statement 1: The news media should constantly investigate and report on government mistakes and corruption.

Statement 2: Too much reporting on negative events, like government mistakes and corruption, only harms the

country.“

Support for media role in monitoring government, 34 countries, 2011-2013


Statement 1: The news media should constantly investigate and report on government mistakes and corruption.

Statement 2: Too much reporting on negative events, like government mistakes and corruption, only harms the country.“

5763 63 66 68 69 69 70 70 72 72 74 76 77 83

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%Se

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Togo

Lib

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Cap

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7380 80 80 85

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Ke

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Bu

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50 54 5562 63 66 70 72 74 74 76 81

0%

20%

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60%

80%

100%

Swaz

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Leso

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4957 60 61 64 68

0%

20%

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Alg

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Sud

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Tun

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Mo

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West Africa East Africa

Southern Africa North Africa

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Media Effectiveness

Generally, citizens give high marks to their national media for

effectiveness in revealing government mistakes and corruption;

Average of 71% say the media in their country is either ‘somewhat’

or ‘very effective’;

But this average masks wide differences, from lows of just 40% in

Madagascar and 43% in Zimbabwe, to 80% or more of Malawians

and Egyptians.

East Africans are much more likely (81%) to rate their media as

effective compared to all other regions.

Individual freedom of speech and media effectiveness go hand in hand;

the two are strongly and positively correlated.

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Participants were asked: In this country, how effective is the news media in revealing government mistakes and

corruption? (% who say ‘somewhat effective’ or ‘very effective’)


Media Effectiveness cont’d

Freedom of speech is also strongly linked to citizens’ ratings of

their leaders: greater freedom is associated with higher levels of

trust in leaders and lower reported levels of corruption.

Freedom of speech is also associated with higher ratings of

government performance across all sectors. The relationship is

strongest with respect to fighting corruption.

15

Effectiveness of news media in monitoring government, 34 countries, 2011-2013

Participants were asked: In this country, how effective is the news media in revealing government mistakes and

corruption? (% who say ‘somewhat effective’ or ‘very effective’)

West Africa East Africa

Southern Africa North Africa

41 4151

58 58 60 61 6368 71 72 73 73

80 82

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%To

go

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78 79 81 83 84

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Ken

ya

Bu

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ERA

GE

Uga

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Tan

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2938

4549

59 6166 67

74 7581

88

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Ma

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4349 51

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77 77

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Sud

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Tun

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Freedom of speech and media effectiveness, 34 countries, 2011-2013

Individual freedom of speech and media effectiveness go hand in hand; the two are strongly and positively correlated.

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Freedom of speech and fighting corruption, country level comparisons

34 countries, 2011-2013

Greater freedom of speech is associated with higher levels of trust in leaders and lower reported levels of corruption.

18

Government handling of fight against corruption, compared to

ratings of freedom of speech, 34 countries, 2011-2013

19

69%

63%

58%

50%

56%

22%

27%

33%

41%

35%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Not at all free Not very free Somewhat free Completely free Total

Rating of freedom of expression

Fightingcorruptionfairly/verybadly

Fightingcorruptionfairly/verywell


Access to news from selected sources,

by region, 34 countries, 2011-2013

Television has risen slightly as a key source of news for Africans,

while newspapers and radio are both down slightly.

North Africans use television far more than do people of other

regions.

Cellular telephone penetration in Africa is both growing and wide

spread.

An average of 84% of respondents now use cell phones at least

occasionally,

And in 20 countries tracked since 2008, access has increased

substantially compared to just a few years ago.

Internet usage, by contrast, has increased only marginally, and from a

much lower base;

Average of 18% of respondents access internet on at least a

monthly basis,

But this ranges from nearly twice as many (34%) in North Africa,

to less than one in ten (9%) in West Africa.

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Access to news from selected sources, by region, 34 countries, 2011-2013

Participants were asked:" How often do you get news from each of the following sources?" (% responding ‘a few times a month’, ‘a few times a week’ or ‘every day’)

8083

78

61

77

53

32

5256

2125

41 41

31

1410

16

32

17

0%

15%

30%

45%

60%

75%

90%

West Africa East Africa Southern Africa North Africa Overall

Radio Television Newspaper Internet

21

Access to news via selected sources, 16 countries, 2002-2012

Participants were asked:" How often do you get news from each of the following sources?" (% responding ‘a few times a month’, ‘a few times a week’ or ‘every day’)

86 84 8481

4544 44

54

40

36 3632

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2002 2005 2008 2012

Radio TV Newspaper

22

Cell phone ownership, 34 countries, 2011-2013

Participants were asked: Do you ever use a mobile phone? If so, who owns the mobile phone that you use most often.

72%

16%

9%

3%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Own and use mobilephone

Never owned a phone Use a phone owned byhousehold member

Use a phone owned bysomeone outside the

home

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Use of mobile phones, 34 countries, 2011-2013

Participants were asked: Do you ever use a mobile phone? (% yes)

24

Increases in cellular telephone access/use, 2008-2012, 20 countries

"How often do you normally use

a mobile phone to make or

receive a call?" (% responding

that they ever used a mobile

phone)

45%

39%

58%

50%

73%

52%

58%

60%

63%

70%

53%

55%

83%

60%

46%

51%

77%

82%

89%

79%

73%

44%

67%

73%

75%

80%

80%

80%

82%

83%

83%

84%

86%

88%

89%

89%

91%

91%

92%

92%

93%

95%

10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Madagascar

Malawi

Mozambique

Liberia

Uganda

Lesotho

Cape Verde

Tanzania

Average

Zambia

Benin

Mali

Nigeria

Ghana

Burkina Faso

Zimbabwe

Botswana

Namibia

South Africa

Kenya

Senegal

2012

2008

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Use of Internet, by region, 34 countries, 2011-2013

Participants were asked: How often do you use the internet? (% using ‘a few times a month’ or more)

9

16 17

34

18

0%

15%

30%

45%

East

Afr

ica

Wes

t A

fric

a

Sou

the

rn A

fric

a

No

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Afr

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Ave

rage

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