On the 20th anniversary of his crackdown in Eritrea, which is still a news and information black hole, Reporters Without - Council on Foreign But that solved nothing: Insecurity got worse; corruption and living standards, no better. Countdown to 2023: WHO report on global trans-fat elimination 2021 by Lindsay Maizland and Eleanor Albert Wagner group surges in Africa as U.S. influence fades, leak reveals. by Olivia Angelino, Thomas J. Bollyky, Elle Ruggiero and Isabella Turilli Current Heads of State & Dictators - Planet Rulers, President Faustin Archange Touadera of the, President Flix Tshilombo Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo, President Teodoro Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, President Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan of. The United Arab Emirates, a rising military power that has expanded its presence across the Middle East and East Africa, has close ties to the Rapid Support Forces, which sent thousands of fighters to aid the UAE Cellou Binani/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. WebDigital democracy and digital dictatorship have emerged as two sides of the same coin, with politicians and citizens vying to exploit technology to further their agendas. The president is nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, the number of African countries that Freedom House rated not free has grown from a low of fourteen in 2006 and 2008 to twenty in 2021. Presidents that have changed their countries constitutions to eliminate the two-term limit include Presidents Gnassingb (Togo), Museveni (Uganda), Dby (Chad), Components such as an independent press, fair and transparent systems of taxation, and civic education and participation in governance take time to develop. Ultimately, said Ms. Schmauder, Military powers are kind of there to stay, and doing everything to cement their own power.. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? Failing to counter crime and insurgency, some African leaders are seeking greater security involvement from the United States. The United Nations [PDF] and advanced democracies including France, Japan, and the United Kingdom have similarly linked foreign aid to good-governance reforms. "We documented this last year for Togo and Rwanda, for example. While autocratic countries are not always malevolent, they often still encounter resistance from citizens who would prefer to have a greater say in the government's policy-making process. West Africa and East Africa both have mostly partially free regimes. ", Angelo Izama, a political consultant and journalist from Uganda, describesthe move rather as an "overreaction" rooted in deeply-held patriarchal beliefs. Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. Dictatorship Countries Article Typically, dictators rise to power when a nation faces significant social issues, such as strong economic crises or unrest among the nation's people. According to Freedom House, Malawi was the sole country globally whose democracy strengthened during COVID-19 lockdowns, after it became the first African country to overturn a fraudulent election through legal means and conduct a free and fair follow-up election.