“Crime and insecurity are major challenges in African countries, threats to both national development and individual quality of life. According to the Legatum Prosperity Index, which assesses countries’ safety and security as part of national wealth and well-being, only 11 African countries rank in the top 100 countries worldwide in safety and security; the top-ranked African country (Benin) is at No. 50 (Legatum Institute, 2014). The U.S government rates crime in most African countries as either critical or high (U.S. Overseas Security Advisory Council, 2015).
This paper examines how Africans themselves perceive the problem, based on data from Afrobarometer surveys in 34 African countries: how safe they feel, whether they report crimes, how easy or difficult they find it to get help from the police, and how they think their governments are performing in fighting crime.”
