Top 10 African Countries With The Weakest Governments

GlobalCurrent24.com presents the top 10 African countries with the weakest governments as of 2024. This list is courtesy of the Fragile State Index.

Africa’s growth has long been hampered by a variety of socioeconomic and political issues. One such issue has been the prevalence of ineffective leadership. While the continent appears to be improving on almost every metric, there is no denying that some of the continent’s most pressing issues remain.

Key Highlights

• GlobalCurrent24.com presents the top 10 African countries with the weakest governments.
• Somalia’s central government is the weakest in Africa.
• This list is courtesy of the Fragile State Index, powered by the Fund For Peace.

The negative consequences of a weak internal government are extensive and multifaceted, affecting every aspect of a country’s existence.

One of the concerns of a weak government is the economic problems that arise as a result, which frequently lead to crime and corruption.

Without a strong economic foundation, a country may be unable to provide basic services to its citizens, exacerbating poverty and widening socioeconomic disparities.

The threat to people’s lives and freedoms, however, is perhaps the most serious consequence of a weak government. Inadequate law enforcement, porous borders, and widespread corruption are among the security concerns.

There is also the pain of social unrest, which is common in areas with weak governments. Simply put, inadequate provision of basic services such as health care, education, and infrastructure can exacerbate public dissatisfaction, leading to protests, strikes, and civil disobedience.

With that said, the Fragile States Index (FSI) ranks the following countries as having the weakest governments.

This index, which ranks 178 countries based on the various pressures they face that influence their levels of fragility, demonstrates that, while some African countries suffer from the effects of a weak central government, others thrive in this regard.

The Index, which measures central government weakness, is based on The Fund for Peace’s proprietary Conflict Assessment System Tool (CAST) analytical approach.

Given that this list ranks the weakest central administrations, a country’s lower index indicates a stronger government, while a higher index indicates a weaker government.

Top 10 African Countries With The Weakest Governments

Rank	Country	Fragility index	Global fragility rank
1.	Somalia	111.9	1st
2.	South Sudan	108.5	3rd
3.	Democratic Republic of Congo	107.2	4th
4.	Sudan	106.2	7th
5.	Central Africa Republic	105.7	8th
6.	Chad	104.6	9th
7.	Ethiopia	100.4	11th
8.	Mali	99.5	13th
9.	Guinea	98.5	14th
10.	Nigeria	98.0	15th

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