Political science · Governance · Social · Development · Justice · Policy
Political parties, legislatures, alliances, governance indicators, international courts and heads of state across West Africa — sourced from the observatory — alongside everything the library has published on the subject.
Cape Verde — absent from the base map data (a small-island omission in the source geometry, not a data judgment).
Colored by current ECOWAS status.
Withdrawn 2025-01-29: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger
Withdrawn 2000: Mauritania
Hover a country for its current head of state.
Romuald Wadagni
President of the Republic of Benin
Since 2026 — 0.3 years in office
Ibrahim Traoré
President of Burkina Faso
Since 2022 — 3.9 years in office
José Maria Neves
President of Cape Verde
Since 2021 — 4.8 years in office
Alassane Ouattara
President of the Ivory Coast
Since 2010 — 15.7 years in office
Adama Barrow
President of the Gambia
Since 2017 — 9.6 years in office
John Mahama
President of Ghana
Since 2025 — 1.6 years in office
Mamady Doumbouya
President of Guinea
Since 2021 — 4.9 years in office
Horta Inta-A Na Man
President of Guinea-Bissau
Since 2025 — 0.7 years in office
Joseph Boakai
President of Liberia
Since 2024 — 2.6 years in office
Assimi Goïta
President of Mali
Since 2021 — 5.3 years in office
Mohamed Ould Ghazouani
President of Mauritania
Since 2019 — 7.1 years in office
Abdourahamane Tiani
President of Niger
Since 2023 — 3.1 years in office
Bola Tinubu
President of Nigeria
Since 2023 — 3.2 years in office
Bassirou Diomaye Faye
President of Senegal
Since 2024 — 2.4 years in office
Julius Maada Bio
President of Sierra Leone
Since 2018 — 8.4 years in office
Jean-Lucien Savi de Tové
President of Togo
Since 2025 — 1.3 years in office
A sample, not a ranking — the observatory records no “importance” field for parties. Source shown per row.
African Democratic Rally
wikidatasocial democracy
Socialist International
wikidataFederation of Green Parties of Africa
wikidataSuru Alliance
wikidatademocratic socialism
Progressive Alliance
wikidataliberal democracy; social democracy
Progressive Alliance; Socialist International
Leader: Roch Marc Christian Kaboré
wikidatademocratic socialism; left-wing nationalism
Socialist International
Leader: José Maria Neves
wikidataAfrican nationalism; democratic socialism; left-wing nationalism
Socialist International
Leader: Domingos Simoes Pereira
wikidataChristian democracy
Centrist Democrat International
wikidatademocratic liberalism
Centrist Democrat International; Liberal International
Leader: Alassane Ouattara
wikidatasocial democracy
Progressive Alliance; Socialist International
Leader: John Mahama
wikidataliberal conservatism
International Democracy Union
Leader: Nana Akufo-Addo
wikidatademocratic socialism
Progressive Alliance; Socialist International
wikidatasocial liberalism
Liberal International
wikidataChristian left; agrarianism; social democracy; social liberalism
Centrist Democrat International
wikidataPan-Africanism; democratic socialism; social democracy
Socialist International
wikidataCentrist Democrat International
wikidataCentrist Democrat International
wikidatademocratic socialism; secularism; social democracy
Progressive Alliance; Socialist International
wikidataCentrist Democrat International
Leader: Hamdi Ould Mouknass
wikidatademocratic socialism; social democracy
Progressive Alliance; Socialist International
Leader: Mohamed Bazoum
wikidataProgressive International
wikidataCentrist Democrat International
wikidatademocratic socialism
Progressive Alliance; Socialist International
Leader: Aminata Mbengue Ndiaye
wikidataICJ and ICC only — the observatory does not track domestic justice systems, and this page does not claim to.
Term dates come from Wikidata via the observatory. Coup coloring is sourced, not inferred: a term is marked only when a realized coup event from the Cline Center Coup d’État Project, Peyton et al. v2.2.2, falls within 14 days of that term start. No red mark means no matched event in this rule, not proof of a peaceful or constitutional transition.
Excludes global bodies every country belongs to (UN, WHO, WTO…) — this is about regional and continental alignment specifically. Source: Wikidata via the observatory.
Economic Community of West African States
BFA Burkina Faso (2025)
MLI Mali (2025)
MRT Mauritania (2000)
NER Niger (2025)
African Continental Free Trade Area
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Ideological families across every party the observatory holds for the region. Source labels are free text; the grouping into families is the ADG classification, not the source’s. A party carrying several ideologies is counted in each family, so the bars total more than the number of parties classified. Open a country to see its own breakdown.
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