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News release

Taking stock: Survey findings track citizens’ priorities, Sustainable Development Goals, and government performance in Africa

19 Nov 2018 Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Good jobs and economic growth top the priorities of African citizens, but government performance on these issues lags, according to new Afrobarometer findings from across the continent.

Good jobs and economic growth top the priorities of African citizens, but government performance on these issues lags, according to new Afrobarometer findings from across the continent.

In the first of its Pan-Africa Profiles based on recent public-opinion surveys in 34 countries, Afrobarometer reports that “decent work and economic growth” is Africans’ highest priority among the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – but is also an area where governments are performing particularly poorly. Other highly prioritized SDGs include those focusing on hunger, health, and “peace, justice and strong institutions.”

The new report, available here www.afrobarometer.org, links the “most important problems” identified by more than 45,800 Africans, as well as their assessments of their governments’ performance on these issues, to the goals of the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. The analysis is designed to help governments and advocates design more effective interventions through a better understanding of how their intended beneficiaries – ordinary citizens – perceive and prioritize these goals.