By Amofokhai Williams
The Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF) will host its flagship Democracy Dialogue in Accra, Ghana, on September 17, 2025, bringing together an array of African statesmen, global thought leaders, and democracy advocates to examine the fate of democratic governance on the continent.
Among the high-profile participants are Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, former Nigerian Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, former Burkinabé Prime Minister and ex-ECOWAS Commission President Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo, current ECOWAS Commission President Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, and Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese.
This year’s dialogue, themed “Why Democracies Die,” is being organised in partnership with the Government of Ghana.
The session will be chaired by Chief Obasanjo, with Bishop Kukah delivering the keynote address. Discussions will focus on the fragility of democratic institutions in Africa, the erosion of democratic norms, and strategies to safeguard governance systems against authoritarian reversals.
Now in its fourth year, the Democracy Dialogue was launched in 2021 as an intellectual platform to interrogate the state of democracy in West Africa and beyond. Each edition has tackled critical questions of legitimacy, governance, and leadership.
The 2024 dialogue, centred on education, featured Kenyan academic Prof. Olubayi Olubayi, who advocated for the creation of elite, merit-based universities to anchor Africa’s innovation and development agenda.
Organisers say this year’s edition is a natural progression from previous conversations. Ms. Ann Iyonu, Executive Director of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, described the theme as “a bold attempt to confront the harsh realities facing African democracies.”
“This is the time to ask the hardest question—why do democracies die?” she said, adding that the event will convene political leaders, policymakers, lawmakers, and civil society representatives from across Africa and beyond.
Participants are expected to deliberate on ways to arrest the creeping decline of democratic values and chart sustainable pathways for political stability, inclusion, and accountability in Africa.
The Goodluck Jonathan Foundation noted that the 2025 Democracy Dialogue comes at a time when several African countries are grappling with threats ranging from military coups and electoral disputes to weakened institutions and shrinking civic spaces.
By assembling a cross-section of influential voices, the Foundation hopes the dialogue will not only diagnose the causes of democratic backsliding but also propose practical reforms capable of reviving confidence in governance systems across the continent.
