African Perspectives on US Influence

This visualization presents findings from Afrobarometer Round 10 (2024/2025) showing how African respondents perceive the economic and political influence of the United States. The measure represents net sentiment, calculated as the percentage viewing US influence as mostly positive minus those viewing it as mostly negative.

The map displays stark regional variations in sentiment, with some nations expressing strong support for American influence while others view it with considerable skepticism.

df <- data.frame(
  Country = c("Tunisia", "Comoros", "Congo", "Mali", "Gabon", "Eswatini", "Zimbabwe", 
              "Seychelles", "Botswana", "Mauritius", "Gambia", "Uganda", "Cameroon", 
              "Senegal", "Ghana", "Malawi", "Angola", "Tanzania", "Madagascar", "Chad", 
              "Guinea", "Zambia", "Benin", "Mauritania", "Côte d'Ivoire", "Nigeria", 
              "Sao Tome and Principe", "Namibia", "Kenya", "Morocco", "Lesotho", 
              "Sierra Leone", "Liberia", "Cabo Verde"),
  Code = c("TUN", "COM", "COG", "MLI", "GAB", "SWZ", "ZWE", "SYC", "BWA", "MUS", 
           "GMB", "UGA", "CMR", "SEN", "GHA", "MWI", "AGO", "TZA", "MDG", "TCD", 
           "GIN", "ZMB", "BEN", "MRT", "CIV", "NGA", "STP", "NAM", "KEN", "MAR", 
           "LSO", "SLE", "LBR", "CPV"),
  Net_Sentiment = c(-46, -7, 3, 4, 7, 20, 20, 22, 26, 26, 27, 27, 28, 29, 32, 32, 33, 
                33, 34, 36, 36, 36, 37, 39, 43, 44, 44, 45, 47, 50, 56, 74, 77, 82)
)
world <- ne_countries(scale = "medium", returnclass = "sf")
world_merged <- world %>%
  left_join(df, by = c("iso_a3" = "Code"))

# Filter to Africa only
africa <- world_merged %>%
  filter(continent == "Africa")

ggplot(data = africa) +
  geom_sf(aes(fill = Net_Sentiment), color = "black", size = 0.1) +
  scale_fill_gradient2(
    low = "#00008B",
    mid = "#FFFFFF",
    high = "#8B0000",
    midpoint = 0,
    limits = c(-100, 100),
    na.value = "grey95",
    name = "Net Sentiment (%)"
  ) +
  coord_sf(xlim = c(-20, 55), ylim = c(-35, 37.5), expand = FALSE) +
  labs(
    title = "Do you think that the economic and political influence\nof the United States of America is mostly positive or mostly negative?",
    caption = "Data Source: Afrobarometer Round 10 (2024/2025)"
  ) +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(
    plot.title = element_text(
      size = 11,
      face = "bold",
      hjust = 0.5,
      vjust = 0.5,
      margin = margin(b = 25),
      lineheight = 1
    ),
    plot.caption = element_text(
      size = 10,
      hjust = 0.5,
      margin = margin(t = 20),
      color = "#666666"
    ),
    legend.position = "right",
    legend.title = element_text(size = 11, face = "bold", hjust = 0.5),
    legend.text = element_text(size = 10),
    legend.margin = margin(l = 15),
    axis.title = element_blank(),
    axis.text = element_blank(),
    panel.grid = element_blank(),
    plot.margin = margin(25, 25, 25, 25)
  )

Key Findings

The sentiment ranges from a net negative 46 percentage points in Tunisia to a net positive 82 percentage points in Cabo Verde. The distribution suggests that perceptions of US influence vary significantly across the continent, potentially reflecting different economic relationships, historical ties, and regional political contexts.

Countries in West Africa show notably stronger support for American influence, while North African nations express more skepticism. This variation provides valuable insight into how different African publics perceive their relationship with the United States.