Key elections in Africa in 2024

Date: Monday 29 January 2024

If the military governments in the Sahel keep their promises, 16 African countries will hold presidential or legislative elections this year. The biggest race is in South Africa, where the African National Congress (ANC), in power since the advent of democracy in 1994, risks losing its majority. Swapo, the liberation movement in neighbouring Namibia, is in a comparably unpromising position, while in Mozambique, the ruling Frelimo has not yet picked a presidential candidate. Senegal and Ghana will both get new leaders as the incumbents must step down. We will run through the important dynamics in these five elections, and briefly touch on those to be held later in the year in Algeria, Rwanda, and Tunisia.

Francois Conradie

Lead Political Economist, OE Africa

+27 (0) 78 229 6884

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Francois Conradie

Lead Political Economist, OE Africa

Cape Town, South Africa

François is the lead political economist, covering politics in North and West Africa, and economics in Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. He has been with Oxford Economics Africa for 11 years, watching Africa go through the time of the Arab Spring uprisings, commodity price cycles, the effects of Covid-19, and the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Louw Nel

Senior Political Analyst, OE Africa

+27 (0) 21 863 6200

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Louw Nel

Senior Political Analyst, OE Africa

Cape Town, South Africa

Louw is the senior political analyst at Oxford Economics Africa. He joined the company in 2020 after five years with South Africa’s official opposition party, serving as its operations director at Parliament. He has an obsessive relationship with African politics and covers South Africa and several other countries.