Maxwell Maseko researches digital governance and media. He recently published a book chapter examining the potential threats and benefits to democracy that digital technologies pose in African countries. He explains what he found.

Can African countries use digital technology to strengthen democracy?

In recent years, more people in African countries have been able to access the internet than ever before. This growth has been driven by improved telecommunication infrastructure and the rising adoption of mobile devices.

At the same time there’s been a worrying democratic decline in some countries and regions, most markedly north Africa. This is marked by an increase in military regimes, a rise in violent conflicts and growing public dissatisfaction with political systems.

Today social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), WhatsApp and Facebook are regularly used for debate, and to mobilise citizens and organise protests.

Examples include the 2010 Arab Spring in north African and Middle Eastern countries and South Africa’s #FeesMustFall protests beginning in 2015.

During Zambia’s “bush protests” in 2020 a reported 500,000 people tuned in online to social media platforms to listen to their leaders criticise alleged government corruption.

That’s just one example of how digital technology can strengthen democracy by allowing citizens to get involved. Others include improving health and education services and strengthening tax and revenue collection methods.

What kind of digital technologies can be used? And how?

Many African countries have weak election management systems. Citizens are rightly worried about human interference in electoral processes, as well as a lack of transparency and oversight.

A study of India and some countries in the Americas and Europe suggests that digital technologies can be used to restore the credibility and integrity of elections.

This approach is already being taken in some countries on the continent – mostly those like Kenya and South Africa, which are considered stronger democracies than their peers.

In its 2021 local government elections, South Africa piloted the use of Voter Management Devices to replace scanners. The machines were used to verify voters and address the issue of double voting.

There were, however, some hiccups in practice. Internet connection issues were reported on voting day. That left about 100,000 people unable to cast their vote. Despite this mishap – and recent concerns raised by members of parliament about the machines’ efficiency – the devices were used again in the 2024 national elections.

Social media platforms are also well used by South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission and various political parties to promote voter education and registration, political campaigning, and debate on key national issues. This is a good way to try to reach the country’s more than 45 million active internet users out of a population of over 60 million.

Kenya also views the adoption of technology as an important step in improving accountability, transparency and citizen participation in democratic processes previously tainted by controversy and mistrust. Today Kenyans use social media platforms like X, Facebook and Instagram to voice opinions about various issues. Politicians also use these platforms to campaign and mobilise supporters.

Its Integrated Electoral Management System includes technology for biometric voter registration and electronic voter identification.

Electronic voting (e-voting), however, is a long way from being a reality in African countries. According to the World Economic Forum, the benefits of e-voting include more efficient elections and a faster vote count.

Elsewhere, Brazil, India, the US and Estonia have piloted e-voting.

In 2014, Namibia became the first African country to adopt electronic voting machines. Though the system was prone to technical glitches, the machines were used again in Namibia’s 2019 presidential elections.

What about government misuse?

In line with the democratic decline in some countries and regions mentioned earlier, we’ve seen a number of governments throttling their citizens’ internet access to prevent people from organising, mobilising or even discussing their grievances with their leaders.

Ethiopia, for instance, has since the early 2000s shut down the internet and on numerous occasions censored online material. Its government also uses the internet as a surveillance tool. Ethiopia’s Center for Advancement of Rights and Democracy says internet access remains unequal and expensive.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, there were several internet shutdowns before the presidential elections in December 2018. But even when the internet is functioning, it’s not very accessible. In a country of over 70 million people, only 22.9% were connected at the beginning of 2023. This is due to limited infrastructure and high access costs.

What needs to change?

African leaders need to remember that an election is not always a sign of a healthy democracy, although it gives citizens a chance to choose and evaluate their leaders. A positive attitude towards technology will go some way towards strengthening democracy.

Attitude, of course, won’t be sufficient. Authorities must create social, political and economic conditions that are conducive to ensuring digital benefits reach everyone. This will require political will, skilled artisans with a general understanding of basic technology, proper information and communications technology infrastructure, affordable data and legislation.

That access and technology must then be put to work to introduce modern balloting methods.

This article was first published by The Conversation.

Voter apathy a threat to democracy

There are multiple threats to African democracy. An increasing number of African leaders continue to unilaterally change their constitutions and legal frameworks to hold on to power. The past decade has also seen a rise in the number of authoritarian governments, especially in West Africa where power transfers are marked by coups d’état and violent election-related protests. Most importantly however, democracy in Africa is being threatened by mounting voter apathy, low registration numbers and low voter turnouts – especially among young people.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and subsequent lockdowns, political mobilisation and freedom of movement were impacted, resulting in concern from electoral officials about the effectiveness of manual voting. Nearly 14 African countries including Botswana, Chad, and Ethiopia postponed their elections according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. However, many others such as South Africa revised their election strategies to include digital technologies to bolster election management and participation. This was done amid criticism from cyber-pessimists about the reliability of online technology to deliver clean voting outcomes. 

South Africa’s digital attempt

South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), for instance, invested millions to acquire 40,000 voter management devices (VMDs) to electronically verify voters while also tackling double voting and election fraud in the 2021 local government elections. In its official report about the elections, the IEC argued for replacing ageing portable ‘zip-zip’ machines used since 1998 with new smart devices. Multi-functional VMD technology scans barcodes of IDs, record voters’ addresses, store details of the national voters’ roll, and transmit data from polling stations in real-time to a central point.  

Supporters of digital technology say with over 40 million active Internet users, South Africa is perfect for testing VMD adoption in election management. The uniqueness of the municipal elections would also provide key lessons for other emerging democracies in Africa planning to walk a similar path. This follows the IEC’s urgent application to the Constitutional Court to determine whether the elections should be postponed or not.

What we learnt

Five key lessons emerged. Firstly, South Africa’s elections were declared free and fair by both the IEC and international observers suggesting that democratic practices are alive and well. This is an important lesson for African countries to respect their judicial processes even in times of uncertainty as observed during the pandemic.

Secondly, the use of VMDs helped to peacefully resolve the issue of restricted political mobilisation and freedom of movement and association. This suggests that the VMDs achieved their aim of upholding the credibility and integrity of the elections.

Thirdly, the new technology presented some serious challenges including the exclusion of an estimated 100,000 people from the voters’ roll due to malfunctioning devices and some elements of human error. There were also reports of poor Internet connections at some voting stations. Democracy is devalued and the credibility of an election can be questioned if citizens are excluded from participating. Nevertheless, the outcome of the election was peaceful despite this anomaly. 

Fourthly, South Africa’s 2021 elections highlighted the need for proper budgeting by African governments. According to the IEC Report (2022), budget cuts amounting to R382 million in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 financial years led to the cancellation of planned voter registration ahead of the elections.

Lastly, VMDs did not resolve the issue of voter apathy, low voter registration numbers, and low voter turnouts. This points to a need for IEC officials and other African countries to find lasting solutions. Roodt (2021) argues that about 46% of all eligible voters turned out to vote in South Africa in 2021, the lowest figure since the fall of apartheid. A crisis looms for African governments if patterns of non-participation in elections persist.

Where to now?

It has been demonstrated that a shift away from legacy media to digital communication spaces would reduce voter apathy and increase electoral engagement. While South Africa maintains that it has not formally adopted a position on e-voting, IEC officials still recognise the benefits of using digital technology during elections. An expanded VMD programme will be rolled out in the upcoming 2024 national elections including other security measures to tackle disinformation and misinformation.

At the very least, it is recommended that African countries use both traditional and modern methods of participating in an election while they find more effective ways to digitalise. A positive relationship between citizens, election officials, and government is needed for the successful implementation of digital technology initiatives in Africa. Problems of worsening inequality in the developing world need more investment in time and the strengthening of digital policies to be completely resolved, if ever.

Dr Maxwell M. Maseko is a postdoc fellow at the Tayarisha Centre at the Wits School of Governance. His research primarily focuses on media and governance, particularly in areas of democracy, digitalisation in the public sector, protests, and citizen participation.

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