If African policy makers want to keep abreast with what citizens across the continent want, they must read the latest Afrobarometer’s insights because the results give “a nuanced picture of an Africa that is increasingly assertive and eager to become a key player on the global stage.” Leaving this document on file, without taking a look at its contents will amount to helping to destroy the growth of the continent.
Over the years, studies produced by researchers across the continent, which show how Africa must move forward, have found their way onto files. The policymakers, whose responsibility it is to read these documents, do not bother, and so, a lot of efforts have been wasted. This time, it should not be so.
In its African Insights 2026: Beyond Borders: Citizen Perspectives On A Shifting Global Order, Afrobarometer stated that, “while citizen voices reflect a multitude of perspectives and preferences, consensus is forming around certain core issues, including trade liberalisation, strategic engagement with multiple foreign powers, a greater continental say in global affairs, and the need for climate justice.”
On the issue of immigration, the document said, though most Africans support freedom of movement in theory, they want to limit the number of foreigners admitted into their country in practice. Afrobarometer data show that leaders who desire greater integration within the continent and with the rest of the world have a clear mandate to look beyond their borders to secure their country’s future in a rapidly changing world.
According to the findings, “Africans increasingly support free trade: Across 38 countries surveyed in 2024/2025, sixty-two percent of citizens believe that trade with other countries will benefit their own economy. Majorities in 32 countries endorse free trade.
“But there is a general lack of awareness of the flagship project aimed at continental economic integration,” the study said, adding that, “only 13% of Africans have heard of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).” For this reason, “if the African Union (AU) and its member states hope to rally public support for their vision of a giant African trading bloc, they will need to ramp up their communication efforts.”
Afrobarometer found that though in developed countries, economic hardship is associated with greater opposition to free trade, the reverse is true in Africa, because the people who report worse personal living conditions are more likely to support liberalising trade.
It also found that, despite the AU’s push for an African passport and free movement of people on the continent, the African Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons has received far less official support than the AfCFTA.
In the area of free movement, the study found that, more than half (56%) of Africans say people in their subregion should be free to move across borders to live and work in other countries. But fully, four in 10 (40%) would prefer restricting cross-border movement to protect citizens’ access to jobs and opportunities. Countries vary widely in their support for free movement, from 79% in Uganda to just 30% in Mauritania. In practice, almost two-thirds (63%) say it is difficult to traverse borders to work or trade.
“Our analyses show that unlike their counterparts in the West, African societies with higher levels of education, skilled labour, wealth, and development are less – not more – likely to welcome foreigners.,” Afrobarometer said.
It said, “while open borders may sound good on paper, for many Africans, they are still too risky to be put into practice. Building public support for deeper economic integration will require demonstrating that free movement can deliver tangible benefits – jobs, opportunity, and shared prosperity – rather than heightened competition for scarce resources.”
The study found that many Africans are keen to move, with almost half (45%) saying they have thought at least “a little bit” about moving to another country. “In fact, they are more likely to contemplate emigration than citizens of the Middle East/North Africa (32%) or Latin America (29%). And interest in leaving is on the rise: The share who have considered it ‘a lot’ has risen by 7 percentage points since Afrobarometer’s Round 7 survey in 2016/2018. Those who are young (32%) and highly educated (31%) are especially likely to be giving it ‘a lot’ of thought.
“Most potential emigrants are motivated by economic concerns: Half (50%) say they would go in search of work, and another 29% to escape economic hardship. As for preferred destinations, Europe (32%) and North America (28%) top the list, but many would stay in their subregion (17%) or elsewhere in Africa (5%),” Afrobarometer said.
The study found that three-quarters (77%) said they would like or wouldn’t mind having immigrants as neighbours, while two-thirds (68%) feel the same about refugees. However, “they are concerned about economic competition. Respondents are split on whether allowing foreigners to live and work in their country is economically beneficial (45%) or harmful (44%). And as a policy matter, there is strong opposition to immigration: Half (49%) want to see fewer job seekers allowed in, and 15% want to see none at all.”
According to Afrobarometer, as great powers jockey for influence across the continent, “a substantial majority (62%) see China’s influence on their country as “somewhat positive” or ‘very positive,’ compared to about half for the United States (52%) and the European Union (50%). Fewer welcome the influence of their former colonisers (41%), India (39%), and Russia (36%).
“Assessments of China have held steady over the past five years, while the United States has lost some standing and Russia struggles to improve its reputation,” the study said, adding that, “we find that Africans don’t view these relationships as zero-sum contests: Attitudes toward these external powers are often strongly correlated. It seems that, in a multipolar world, Africans are looking to benefit from multiple partnerships at the same time.”
Africans broadly see their continental and regional bodies in a favourable light: Majorities regard both the AU (55%) and their regional economic community (REC) (56%) as having a positive economic and political influence on their country (vs. only 13% and 15% negative, respectively). More than half also say that their country’s needs and interests are adequately recognised by the AU (56%) and the REC (54%).
“When it comes to a push toward full integration, East Africa offers a note of caution: Citizens are supportive of cross-border movement of goods, services, and labour, but views are mixed on the establishment of a single currency, and a majority oppose full political union,” the study said.
It pointed out that most Africans (71%) think that “African countries should be given greater influence in the decision making of international bodies like the United Nations” (UN), giving popular impetus to the AU’s campaign to give African states two permanent seats on the UN Security Council.
Afrobarometer said that the 43% of Africans who are climate-change-literate admitted that they have heard of the phenomenon and understand that human activity is a cause, eight in 10 (80%) say climate change is making life in their country worse. “Its impacts are felt widely: and half of all respondents report that droughts (51%) and crop failures (51%) have become more severe in their area over the past decade.
The study said about six in 10 Africans report making at least one significant adjustment to their daily lives in response to changing weather patterns, from altering water sources to changing what they plant and eat, including 19% who say they or a family member had to relocate.
“Africans increasingly want action, both from their government and from wealthy or developed nations. In fact, the proportion who say rich nations bear the main responsibility for limiting climate change has risen by 14 percentage points since 2021/2023,” Afrobarometer said.
It said that citizens also back measures aimed at mitigating climate change, such as investment in climate-resilient infrastructure and renewable energy, though policies that threaten to raise household costs are less popular.
The insights give the continent some hope, since it has brought out all that is required to push the continent in a particular direction. What is required of policymakers is to read these thoroughly and then find a way of applying them for the benefit of Africa.
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Francis Koktuse is a free-lance journalist based in Accra. Currently, he is the local Stringer for the New York Times. He also writes for University World News, as well as Science and Development.Net. He was a Staff Writer for the African Concord, and Africa Economic Digest in London, UK.
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