NAI researcher George Bob-Milliar attributes Ghana's recent successful election to improved coordination, issues-based debates, and international support. Wrapping up Africa's "super election year," which saw sixteen elections and five predominantly peaceful transitions of presidential power, he notes that democracy is advancing on the continent.

On December 7, Ghana held its general election. The opposition candidate (and former president) John Mahama won, and vice-president Mahamudu Bawumia accepted defeat already the day after the election. With regards to democratic development, George Bob-Milliar, guest researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, sees the election result as an improvement compared to the previous election four years ago.

“The political parties and their candidates made themselves available for Ghanaians to question them. They visited homes, talked to people in the market space, asked questions, and also allowed citizens to ask them questions”, he observed.

The Ghana election wraps up what has been labelled as Africa’s super election year. In 2024, we have seen 16 general and/or presidential elections across the continent. Five of those have resulted in opposition victories where the incumbent president has in predominantly peaceful manners, handed over power.

“It shows that African democracy is growing, that Africans are voting – and voting out incumbents”, George Bob-Milliar concludes.

Watch the filmed interview below:

George M. Bob-Milliar is an Associate Professor at the Department of History and Political Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi-Ghana. From August 2024 to July 2025, he is a guest researcher at the Nordic African Institute through its African Scholar Programme.