Across Africa, democracy is still a very young system of governance. The age of democracy in each country helps contextualise its level of maturity and effectiveness.

*The first competitive election refers to the first multiparty election that occurred either after independence (without a foreign head of state) or in direct preparation for the transition to independence. If the country has never experienced a military coup or pause in elections after their first competitive election, they are considered an uninterrupted democracy.

This map shows the number of years that have passed in the country's current, uninterrupted period of democracy. Countries that no longer holding competitive multi-party elections or have never held them are labeled as "Non-democracy."