Africa Divided: Rwanda, Botswana, and Senegal Rise as Sudan and DRC Sink in Global Rule of Law Index 2025

The world is witnessing a troubling decline in the rule of law, with more than two-thirds of countries recording lower scores in the World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index 2025. Africa reflects this global struggle  a continent of contrasts where progress and decline coexist. While nations like Rwanda, Botswana, Senegal, and Sierra Leone emerged among the world’s top improvers, others such as Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, and Cameroon have slipped to the bottom of the table. The findings expose a widening gap between Africa’s rising reformers and its governance-strained counterparts, underscoring a deepening global “rule of law recession” marked by executive overreach, weakened justice systems, and shrinking civic spaces.