In 2024, over a third of Africa's 54 countries will hold elections to choose new presidents or governments. At a global level, nearly two billion people will be lining up to cast their ballots, including nearly 900 million Indians in the world's most populous democratic state. Around half that number are also due to elect the first European Parliament since Brexit, while the Labour Party in the United Kingdom hopes to unseat the Tories by the end of the year.
Across the waters, 81-year-old Joe Biden is planning another shot at the top slot in the United States, and 71-year-old Vladimir Putin seems determined to cling to power until at least 2030 after the Russian presidential elections in March. Time magazine states that 2024 is not just an election year but perhaps the election year. Globally, more voters than ever in history will head to the polls as at least 64 countries (plus the European Union) are meant to hold national elections, the results of which, for many, will prove consequential for years to come.
Closer to home, domestic attention will be fixed on South Africa's seventh national democratic election, but at a continental level, elections are also scheduled in another 19 African nations. The first round of voting starts in the tiny island state of the Comoros later this month, and 2024's elections will wrap up in Ghana (and possibly Mali) in December.
Furthermore north, 78-year-old Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune appears to be preparing to run for a second term in the 2024 elections, if he can keep the support of the army. Le Monde reports that Tebboune has been ruling without any real political opposition since the start of a crackdown on the Hirak (protest movement) in 2019.
Further south, further elections are also scheduled in Botswana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, and Namibia. Zimbabweans will have to wait another five years until their next election, as the country has endured only two leaders since 1980.
