{"id":531712,"date":"2026-03-14T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T06:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/?p=531712"},"modified":"2026-03-15T10:24:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T09:24:41","slug":"ousmane-ndiaye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/en\/policy\/world\/ousmane-ndiaye\/","title":{"rendered":"Dismantling the anti-democratic myth in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Africa against democracy (\u00abL\u2019Afrique contre la d\u00e9mocratie\u00bb)<\/em>, Senegalese journalist Ousmane Ndiaye dismantles an increasingly widespread narrative: that of a continent supposedly incompatible with democracy. A vigorous investigation of an idea that has become an alibi for the new authoritarianisms.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u00abAfrica was not made for democracy. This myth has taken hold like a lazy truism. It has made its way slowly from speech to mind. After becoming a rhetorical weapon for dictators, it seduced certain intellectuals and pan-Africanist activists, until it found a considerable echo among African populations. In his essay Africa against democracy (\u00abL\u2019Afrique contre la d\u00e9mocratie\u00bb)<\/em>, Ousmane Ndiaye, former Africa editor at TV5 Monde, methodically dismantles this ideological construct, which has harmful consequences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since independence, democracy has been progressively disqualified on the other side of the Mediterranean. The \u00abdemocratic revolutions\u00bb of the 1990s promised a profound break with authoritarian regimes. But the long-awaited changeover, embodied by the arrival in power of opponents such as Laurent Gbagbo in C\u00f4te d'Ivoire or Alpha Cond\u00e9 in Guinea, turned out to be nothing more than a continuation of authoritarianism in a different guise. This \u00abtragedy of historical opponents\u00bb, as Ndiaye calls it, has contributed significantly to the disaffection with democratic systems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pan-African impasse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To this \u00abtragedy of the opposition\u00bb has been added a narrative according to which democracy is merely an import of European imperialism. A system ill-suited to African realities. The Senegalese journalist shows that this discourse serves above all as an alibi. Carried by a constellation of figures such as activist Kemi Seba and journalist Alain Foka, it legitimizes authoritarian regimes presented as more sovereign, more efficient and \u00abtruly\u00bb African.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The juntas of the Sahel are thus elevated to the rank of pan-Africanist hopes, their leaders heroised, while the liberticidal measures are passed over in silence. Intellectuals such as Boubacar Boris Diop and Aminata Dramane Traor\u00e9, once champions of freedom, now play down the crimes of dictatorships in the name of the fight against imperialism. They have become, in Ndiaye's words, \u00abthe intellectual screen for democratic denial\u00bb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rwandan case is the most paradigmatic. Erected as an absolute model, Paul Kagam\u00e9's Rwanda is invoked as proof that effective authoritarianism is better than unstable democracy. The essayist points out that this model functions above all as a symbol. The results are far more mixed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n