This archive report was first published on 5 December 2019.
As the world gears up for a new decade, several African countries will hold elections in 2020, with many facing significant challenges to their democratic processes.
Cameroon's national assembly, senate, and local elections, postponed for the third time from 2018 to October 2019, are now set to take place between January and March 2020. The postponements came in the wake of displacements and deaths amid calls for secession in two anglophone regions and heightened Boko Haram attacks in the North.
President Paul Biya, 85, controversially won a seventh, seven-year term in 2018, raising concerns about the country's democratic trajectory.
The Comoros islands, with a history of attempted secessions and coups, will elect a Union Assembly in January 2020.
Meanwhile, in Egypt, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will face a test of his authoritarian rule in April 2020, as the country elects its House of Representatives.
Mali, one of the most affected countries by the current wave of lawlessness sweeping across the Sahel, will hold parliamentary elections in May 2020, amidst rising violence in the North and Centre.
Security concerns have forced the postponement of the elections, but the country's fragile peace process remains a major concern.
Other countries to watch in 2020 include Ivory Coast, where incumbent President Alassane Quattara has announced he will not seek re-election after two terms, and Ethiopia, where Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's 'medemer' philosophy of inclusion and unity is being put to the test in the country's May 2020 elections.
As voters head to the polls, it is essential to scrutinize the candidates and their manifestos, as well as the leaders who promote fundamentalist positions on ethnicity and religion.
Ultimately, the success of democracy in these countries will depend on the choices made by voters and the leaders they elect.
