With 51 countries and 16 percent of the world’s population, Africa is enormously diverse in terms of history, development, people, culture, and religion. This regional study summarises a longer set of findings that can be found in the Global Slavery Index: Africa Report. 

Prevalence within Africa

On any given day in 2016, an estimated 9.2 million men, women, and children were living in modern slavery in Africa. The region has the highest rate of prevalence, with 7.6 people living in modern slavery for every 1,000 people in the region.

When considering the forms of modern slavery, the rate of forced marriage (4.8 victims per 1,000 people in the region) was higher than the rate of forced labour (2.8 victims per 1,000 people in the region).

Over half of all victims of forced labour exploitation (54 percent) were held in debt bondage, with similar proportions of men and women in the region trapped through debt. An estimated 400,000 people in the region were victims of forced sexual exploitation, accounting for eight percent of all victims of forced sexual exploitation and commercial sexual exploitation of children worldwide.

Within the region, Eritrea, Burundi, and Central African Republic were the countries with the highest prevalence of modern slavery; however, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo had the highest absolute number and accounted for over one-quarter (26.3 percent) of all victims in the region.

These regional figures, while important, should be interpreted cautiously given the gaps and limitations of data in certain countries. For example, it is not possible to survey in countries that are experiencing profound and current conflict, such as Libya, South Sudan, and parts of Nigeria. The lack of data from countries experiencing conflict means that modern slavery estimates in these countries are likely to understate the problem.1

Vulnerability within Africa

Figure 1Regional average vulnerability scores by dimension, Africa

The prevalence estimates are consistent with findings from the vulnerability measures, which suggest the Africa region had the highest average vulnerability score (62 percent). The Africa region performed relatively poorly on the governance issues, lack of basic needs, and disenfranchised groups dimensions of the vulnerability model (Figure 1). These rankings reflect the challenges that continue to plague certain countries in this region in terms of resource allocation, effective governance, and acceptance of minority groups. The Central African Republic, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo had the highest levels of vulnerability, while Mauritius and Tunisia had the lowest levels of vulnerability in the region.

Government responses within Africa

While the Africa region has the lowest average regional government response score, with a CC rating, there have been significant improvements in specific countries and a trend to strengthen modern slavery legislation. Six countries have passed strengthened trafficking legislation since 2016, most recently in Côte d’Ivoire and Morocco. There are also multiple regional bodies in Africa that have been proactive in responding to modern slavery, which points to increasing opportunities to hold governments to account. Despite this, limited resources and ongoing conflict continue to hinder more comprehensive responses to modern slavery in the Africa region.

Table 3Movements in government response rating for Africa 2016 to 2018

*Countries that scored -1 on a negative indicator could not score above a BBB rating
**Not rated in 2016 Global Slavery Index
***Included for the first time in 2018, therefore a rating is not provided. All data are available via the Global Slavery Index website