What Afrobarometer does

Afrobarometer is a pan-African, non-partisan, independent non-profit research organization founded in 1999 and headquartered in Accra, Ghana. It operates a coordinated survey network with national partners across 38 African countries, using rigorous sampling methodologies and face-to-face interviewing to collect nationally representative data on citizens' attitudes toward democracy, governance, human rights, economic conditions, and social issues. The organization employs 51-100 staff and disseminates its findings to policymakers, civil society organizations, private-sector leaders, and the public at no cost.

Its core product is the Afrobarometer Survey series, currently in its tenth iteration (Round 10), which deploys standardized questionnaires across multiple African nations to enable cross-country comparisons and longitudinal trend analysis. Underlying technical differentiators include the Pan-African Survey Network (standardized methodology enabling cross-country comparability) and the latest Round 10 methodology (nationally representative sampling on topics including immigration, economic perceptions, and democratic attitudes). A secondary offering is the Governance Sector Challenge, an eight-week capacity-building program delivered jointly with the African Leadership for Governance Network to train emerging African leaders in data-driven policy skills.

Afrobarometer operates as a non-profit, funded primarily by philanthropic foundation grants rather than commercial revenue. Survey data and findings are provided free of charge to support evidence-based governance, and the organization has secured multi-year commitments from foundations such as the Open Society Foundations ($1.1M grant, December 2022). Its go-to-market relies on direct stakeholder engagement, media partnerships, conference presentations, and institutional partnerships (notably with the African Peer Review Mechanism) rather than traditional commercial channels.

Name

Afrobarometer

Legal name

Afrobarometer

Website

https://afrobarometer.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Opinion Research and Governance Surveys

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

akta.pro primary industry

Survey, Panel & Fieldwork Services (BPAHALAJ)

Keywords

• Public opinion research
• Governance surveys
• Democracy polling
• Social research Africa
• Policy research data

Headquarters

HQ city

Accra

HQ country

Ghana

HQ region

Africa

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants: Afrobarometer receives grant funding from philanthropic organizations to support its research activities, data collection, and analysis across Africa. The Open Society Foundations provided a $1.1 million grant for two years to enhance data collection and analysis on governance, democracy, and human rights.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Afrobarometer conducts large-scale, nationally representative public opinion surveys across African countries on democracy, governance, human rights, and socio-economic conditions, and disseminates the resulting data and analysis to policymakers, civil society, the private sector, and the public. It also delivers capacity-building programs such as the Governance Sector Challenge to train emerging leaders in data-driven policy work.

Product overview

Afrobarometer is a pan-African, independent, nonpartisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on governance, democracy, and human rights across Africa. The core offering is the Afrobarometer Survey series, which collects and disseminates public opinion data from nationally representative samples across dozens of African countries. The network also runs supplementary programs including the Governance Sector Challenge training initiative to build capacity among young leaders in data analysis and policy skills.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Afrobarometer Survey Pan-African public opinion survey program measuring citizen attitudes on governance, democracy, human rights, and socio-economic conditions across African nations. Conducts rounds of surveys (e.g., Round 10) across dozens of countries, collecting data on topics including climate change, judicial systems, gender rights, and immigration. Available at no cost to policymakers, civil society organizations, and the public.
• Governance Sector Challenge Eight-week intensive training program delivered with the African Leadership for Governance Network, designed to build data-driven policy skills among emerging young African leaders. Participants develop policy proposals using empirical Afrobarometer data to address governance challenges.

Quantifiable outcome

• 38 African countries surveyed in 2024/2025
• +1 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• African Leadership for Governance NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 April 2026Joint initiative to deliver the 2026 Governance Sector Challenge, an eight-week program building data-driven policy skills among 45 emerging leaders from 14 African countries. The program focuses on enhancing governance, accountability, and public trust through empirical data analysis, with selected policy proposals to be published.
• African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 May 2025Afrobarometer and the African Peer Review Mechanism renewed their three-year partnership to strengthen governance data and accountability in Africa. The collaboration focuses on aligning public opinion data with governance monitoring tools, capacity building, and promoting inclusion of youth and gender indicators in governance assessment.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Eurobarometer: The European Commission's official public opinion survey instrument covering all EU member states on a recurring basis. Comparable to Afrobarometer in the structure of standardized cross-country survey rounds, though driven by an intergovernmental body rather than an independent NGO.
• International IDEA: An intergovernmental organization providing comparative data, analysis, and capacity-building on democratic governance globally. Comparable to Afrobarometer in serving policymakers and civil society with governance evidence for Africa and other regions, though IDEA focuses more on institutional design than citizen attitude measurement.
• Gallup: A globally established analytics and advisory firm best known for its World Poll and public opinion surveys across more than 160 countries. Comparable to Afrobarometer in standardized cross-country survey methodology and longitudinal attitude measurement, though operating at far greater scale and with a commercial mandate.
• Pew Research Center: A major U.S.-based nonpartisan research organization that conducts public opinion surveys and demographic research. Comparable to Afrobarometer in mission (rigorous public attitude measurement), methodology (nationally representative samples), and non-partisan positioning, but with a global rather than African focus.

Emerging players

• Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem): A research institute producing highly granular, expert-coded indicators of democratic governance for nearly all countries. Partially comparable to Afrobarometer in measuring democracy-related phenomena, but V-Dem relies on expert assessments rather than citizen surveys, making it complementary rather than directly substitutable.

Regional players

• Mo Ibrahim Foundation: An Africa-focused foundation producing the Ibrahim Index of African Governance and related governance research. Comparable to Afrobarometer in producing governance data and analysis focused on the African continent and in shaping accountability discourse among African policymakers and investors.
• Research ICT Africa: An Africa-based research network conducting policy-oriented empirical research on ICT access, use, and regulation across African countries. Comparable to Afrobarometer in operating as a pan-African, multi-country survey-based research network producing publicly available data for policymakers and civil society.

Direct peers

• Latinobarómetro: A non-partisan, NGO-based public opinion survey network covering Latin American countries — the closest structural analog to Afrobarometer. Both conduct recurring standardized surveys of democratic attitudes, governance perceptions, and social conditions, enabling cross-country longitudinal comparison within a single region.
• World Values Survey: An international research program conducting nationally representative surveys on values, beliefs, and social attitudes across nearly 100 countries. Comparable to Afrobarometer in delivering comparable cross-country attitudinal data with rigorous sampling, though globally rather than regionally focused.
• Arab Barometer: A non-partisan research network conducting publicly available, nationally representative surveys of citizens in the Arab world. Directly comparable to Afrobarometer in mission, methodology (face-to-face nationally representative samples), recurring survey rounds, and dissemination of free public-good data.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/afrobarometer
• Facebookfacebook.com/Afrobarometer
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/afrobarometer

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Afrobarometer