African Governance in Crisis: RPI Index Exposes a Continent-Wide Trust Gap

The inaugural RPI African Policy Index 2025, launched by Reputation Poll International (RPI), delivers a sobering diagnosis of governance across all 54 African nations: the defining crisis is no longer just poor policy execution, but a deepening “Trust Gap” between what governments do and what citizens believe they achieve.

By combining hard data on policy performance with perception surveys from over 25,000 Africans, RPI noted that the Index measures both the mechanics of governance and the fragile bond of public confidence that makes those mechanics matter.

The African continent emerges sharply divided into three tiers. A small group of “Leaders” scoring above 70 demonstrates that world-class governance is possible in Africa. Mauritius tops the ranking with 78.9, followed by Seychelles (76.4) and Cabo Verde (74.8).

These nations excel because policy outcomes—strong economic management, high vaccination rates, transparent institutions—are matched by equally high citizen trust. Botswana (73.2), Namibia (71.8), and Rwanda (70.1) round out the top performers, showing that consistent delivery in education, resource management, and digital reforms can narrow the trust deficit almost to zero.

Most of Africa, however, lives far from this standard. More than 60% of countries fall into the middle “Strugglers” tier (50–69.9), where policies often exist on paper and even show partial results, yet fail to win public faith.
Nigeria (52.3), South Africa (55.7), Angola (48.9), Egypt (51.2), and Zimbabwe (46.1) record some of the widest Trust Gaps on the continent—sometimes exceeding 25 points—between objective scores and perception.

In Nigeria, anti-corruption laws score reasonably well objectively but collapse in public trust because of perceived elite impunity.

In South Africa, progressive legislation on land and social grants earns decent marks on paper, yet service-delivery protests and racial inequalities fuel deep skepticism.

Similar stories play out in Angola and Egypt, where oil wealth and infrastructure spending do not translate into belief that governments serve ordinary people.

The most acute crises appear among the 18 “Systemic Challengers” scoring below 50, stretching from Sierra Leone (49.2) to South Sudan (28.4). Here, structural breakdowns, chronic insecurity, and collapsed legitimacy produce Trust Gaps averaging 35 points.

Even modest policy efforts—peace accords, health outreaches, or budget reforms—are drowned out by daily experiences of violence, displacement, and exclusion.

Central Africa performs worst as a region, with an average score of just 41.2, while Southern Africa dominates the top tier and West, East, and North Africa show mixed, often disappointing results.

According to the Index’s core message, without deliberate efforts to close the Trust Gap, no amount of policy ambition will yield stable, legitimate governance.

Mauritius and Botswana succeed not because they are rich, but because they systematically include citizens in monitoring and feedback. Most others do not.

The report analyses that until governments treat public perception as a measurable deliverable (through transparent data, regular citizen audits, and visible accountability) the cycle of disillusionment, protest, and institutional decay will continue.

As Africa confronts debt, climate shocks, and youth unemployment, the RPI African Policy Index 2025 serves as both warning and roadmap: bridge the Trust Gap, or watch the continent’s governance crisis deepen, the report read.