‘Democracy Must Look Like Africa’: Africa Conference 2025 Demands Homegrown Accountability to End Legitimacy Crisis

Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

The Africa Conference 2025 wrapped up with a powerful call for a distinctly African model of democracy, one rooted in indigenous values to address the continent’s persistent “crisis of legitimacy.” Over two days, delegates from across Africa, united by Pan-African solidarity, urged replacing imported Western political frameworks with systems prioritising accountability and effective service delivery.

Keynote: The Oyo Calabash and African Democracy
In his keynote address, themed “From Crisis to Credibility: Reimagining African Democracies that Work for the People,” Frank Nweke II, Chair of #FixPolitics and former Nigerian Minister, set a bold tone.

He emphasised that pre-colonial African systems, like the Oyo Empire’s mechanism, where the Oyo Messi council could present an overreaching king (Alafin) with an “empty calabash” to compel resignation, offer lessons for modern governance.

“If democracy is meant to be a government of the people, by the people, for the people, then surely we must ask which people?” Nweke posed, adding, “Democracy will not thrive here because it looks like Europe or America. It will thrive because it looks like Africa.”

The Data on Disillusionment: A Crisis of Delivery
Kah Walla, CEO of Strategies and a prominent Cameroonian political leader, reinforced Nweke’s message with a data-driven analysis, pinpointing delivery as the core issue. Citing Afrobarometer data, she noted that while 64% of African youth prefer democracy, 60% are deeply dissatisfied with its performance.

“I always ask complainers in the West, you get water, you get lights? We are not in the same discussion,” Walla remarked, highlighting governments’ failure to meet basic needs. She pointed out that only 19% of young Africans believe their governments are effectively creating jobs, a gap fueling the rise of “electoral autocracies” and growing acceptance of military coups in the Sahel.

Panel I: Overcoming the Crisis of Legitimacy in African Democracies
The first high-level panel, featuring Honourable Touma Njai (MP, The Gambia), Hadidjette Kangouline (WATHI), and Professor Jibrin Ibrahim (CDD), explored solutions for building legitimate governance.

Reflecting on The Gambia’s post-dictatorship challenges, Honourable Njai shared a cautionary tale about democratic backsliding, noting that the elected successor had recycled elements of the old regime. “It was old wine in new bottles,” she said, advocating for transformative change: “We need new wine. We need new bottles. That is the solution.”

In a powerful moment, a video clip of her parliamentary speech condemning colleagues for raising their own salaries moved the audience.

“I feel ashamed to call myself an honourable… I did not give myself for the poor people to feed me and my family,” she declared, a stance Walla praised as the courageous leadership Africa needs.

Professor Ibrahim addressed the challenge of scaling traditional governance models like Ubuntu to modern states.

“The problem is once you scale up, that doesn’t work because you can’t all sit down under the tree,” he explained, noting that attempts to enforce consensus often led to political tyrannies.

He stressed that legitimacy hinges on fulfilling the social contract: “You have to deliver on our welfare, on our security.”

Panel II: Key Innovations for Building African Democracy Today
The second panel, featuring Bergeline Domou, Samson Itodo, Dieynaba Sar, and Nancy Muigei, focused on practical strategies for democratic progress in restrictive environments.

Samson Itodo of YIAGA Africa championed technology as a tool for democracy but cautioned against its misuse in disinformation campaigns by autocrats. “Technology is a net good,” he said, emphasizing the need to integrate technical specialists into democracy movements. He highlighted how activists in Cameroon used biometric register analysis to expose systemic electoral fraud, including registrations of minors and deceased persons, which, he noted, “renders your election useless.”

Bergeline Domou shared insights from the Mothers of the Nation movement in Cameroon, where “disruptive appearances” and appeals to international bodies challenged the government. “In a dictatorship, citizens can still manifest,” she asserted, showcasing the power of collective action.

Thematic Lab Reports: Actionable Blueprints for Transformation
The conference culminated in four thematic labs, each delivering actionable blueprints to address systemic challenges and advance African democracy.

Thematic Lab 1: Breaking State Capture, Rebuilding Trust
The first lab diagnosed state capture as a product of weak institutions, excessive executive appointment powers, and a “citizen deficit.” To counter this, delegates proposed three key resolutions: deploying open data dashboards for public spending and citizen reporting tools to enhance governance oversight; embedding continuous civic education in schools and communities to foster national values that “transcend tribal divisions”; and advocating for constitutional reforms to limit presidential authority over appointing heads of oversight and security institutions.

Thematic Lab 2: Protecting Democracy Activists and Leaders
Focusing on the fear faced by activists—risking imprisonment, injury, exile, or denaturalization—the second lab emphasized that inaction is not an option, as corruption affects all. Its resolutions included pushing for enforcement of constitutional rights and protective laws like the Whistleblower Act; scaling digital security through training on end-to-end encryption, VPNs, and early warning systems; and building multi-sectoral safety nets offering legal, medical, and psychological support for activists, while mobilizing the disengaged middle class.

Thematic Lab 3: Safeguarding Election Integrity
The third lab likened participating in non-credible elections to “running inside a bag,” stressing that legitimacy requires verifiable electoral integrity. Proposed solutions included forming non-partisan Electoral Working Groups to demand rule of law and reform; adopting Voter-Audit-Review (VAR) systems, inspired by sports, to monitor and verify information credibility in real-time; and prioritizing continuous political education to empower youth as informed poll agents and monitors.

Thematic Lab 4: Transforming Governance for Service Delivery
Moderated by Dunamis Adeboye, the fourth lab focused on translating leadership values into tangible public outcomes. Delegates called for developing policy-to-action frameworks to prioritize measurable service delivery, such as improved water access and healthcare ratios; establishing a non-partisan, value-based pipeline, modeled on the SPPG, to mentor ethical political leaders; and implementing technology-driven platforms to track public expenditure from national budgets to local project completion, linking citizen oversight to service outcomes.

Closing Call to Action
In her closing remarks, Kah Walla warned of the risks posed by Africa’s disaffected youth. “We have a huge population of youth that, if we do not contain, can go wrong. It can get violent, it can get destructive,” she cautioned. The Africa Conference 2025 concluded with a unified challenge: to channel this energy into building a legitimate, accountable, and service-oriented African democracy.