Introduction
Democracy is a system that nations follow where an environment is created that respects the fundamental rights of citizens and provides them a scope for expressing their views or opinions. It is a system through which a country keeps a balanced environment as decisions undertaken by the people’s chosen government takes into consideration the expectations and needs of the citizens (Lindner and Aichholzer, 2020). The present essay aims at analysing the concept of democracy as described by the “Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)”. It further sheds light on the evaluation done by EIU with respect to democracy in Africa out of other nations counted. On the other hand, this study aims at critically discussing the processes of democracy evaluation by EIU in Africa thereby presenting the discussion as being argumentative. It incorporates the challenges faced for evaluating democracy at present. However, the study also highlights the improvement that can be made with reference to the democracy evaluation in Africa in the future years.

Discussion
Concept of democracy by EIU
EIU is the research and analyst with respect to the global landscape that provides a deep insight regarding the political and economic developments of nations concerning the present complex global environment thereby helping the nations in identifying the opportunities of growth and improvement following the market reads and development (Eiu, 2023). In this context, EIU evaluates the democratic system of governance in different nations with the consideration of several metrics or indicators (Zagrebina, 2020). The organisation has defined democracy as the political system where power is confined within the citizens and their requirements are being considered at the time of undertaking decisions. The democracy index developed by the EIU reflects on the democratic system of a country based on variables such as “electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political culture, and civil liberties and political participation” (Graziano and Quaranta, 2022). The major aim of EIU is to assist the countries in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the democratic system followed thereby evaluating the effectiveness of the system in increasing national growth (Eiu, 2022).
The democracy index sheds light on the “state of democracy” around the globe that includes “165 independent states and two territories” (Eiu, 2022). With respect to the index, EIU provides a score to each of the nations thereby establishing a ranking system of the countries based on their democratic nature or system. In addition to this, it provides a base for different countries to compare their position in the world with respect to democracy. Furthermore, it can be stated that this index also helps countries in understanding the global trends and developments thereby assisting them in understanding the growth opportunities in the global market. Also, it helps in identifying the challenges that countries are facing in improving their democratic state with reference to the index score provided by the EIU. It further provides a better understanding of democracy to the nations and helps in analysing the governance system to improve the index score. However, the index potentially improves the quality of assessment of democracy in states.

Democracy evaluation in Africa by EIU
Concerning the democracy evaluation of Africa, the EIU uses the democracy index to rank the region after assessing the country’s political stability, electoral processes, government functions, civil liberties and political culture. In this context, it is evident from studies that EIU has identified Africa in making progress with respect to democratic governance. For instance, there have been several countries within Africa which have shifted to multiple political parties, thereby providing the power to the citizens to vote and select one for ruling (Abdulyakeen, 2023). Additionally, several countries have also developed a system of conducting regular elections thereupon supporting positive growth of the countries. On the contrary, it has also been evident from the evaluation processes that there are some countries that are facing potential challenges referring to the implementation of democratic governance due to increased corruption, political instability and conflict regarding the laws implemented (Akinyetun, 2022).

As emerged from studies concerning the democracy index, the average score gained by Sub-saharan Africa is found to be 4.14 (Eiu, 2022). In this context, it has been found that index scores are provided basically on a scale of 0 to10. In addition, any country reflecting a score more than 8 is considered to be good reflecting stable and positive democratic governance. Following the score of sub-saharan Africa, it can be stated that the score is very low. Furthermore, North Africa is found to be ranked with the lowest score at present since the democracy index introduction in 2006 as per the evaluation, whereas other regions in Africa are found to be slightly moving toward second lowest. On the other hand, South Africa has been found to reflect a score of 7.05 which also reflects a lower score, however, higher than compared to the other countries (Eiu, 2022). Hence, this implies that the democratic state or system in Africa has been declining at present times which essentially need to be improved in order to gain a position in the democracy index as a region with full democracy. [Refer to Appendix]
Critical evaluation of democracy evaluation by EIU in Africa

Referring to the evaluation processes of EIU, it has been found that the organisation relies on several metrics for analysing the democratic state of several countries. In this regard, as mentioned by Templeman (2022), the indicators that EIU uses for assessing democracy in several regions falls irrelevant due to the different structure of nations. In addition to this, it has been further mentioned that this creates a hindrance in proper and effective evaluation of the democracy system within the countries thereby resulting in efficient results or index scores. Relating to the opinion and connecting with the EIU system for evaluating democracy in Africa, it can be stated that the indicators have failed to consider several other factors that contribute to the democratic development of Africa. Furthermore, it has been evident that EIU follows the western system for assessing the quality of democracy which fails to evaluate the different political structure in Africa.

In this area of discussion, it has been found that the index score for Africa, especially North Africa and sub-saharan Africa have been significantly low compared to other countries. It has arisen from studies that the corruption level in South Africa has been high which has potentially challenged in maintaining a stable democracy. In this regard, studies revealed that the CPI (Corruption perception index) for Sub-Saharan Africa has been 32 reflecting a better environment in the regions. Additionally, it reflected that 44 out of 49 countries in this region have a lower score than 50 which implies that the corruption level has been lower in these areas (Transparency.org, 2023). On the other hand, it has been observed that although the CPI score has been lower and progress has been positively made by fewer countries, the corruption level in other countries within Africa outnumbered the positive developments thereby creating a challenging situation for Africa to reflect positive democratic governance.
Upon further analysis, it has been evident that Africa reflects a weaker civil society reflecting lower levels of literacy, stable economy and governing expertise (Hsiao et al., 2019). In other words, it can be stated that due to the unstable societal structure, it has been difficult for Africa to develop an effective democracy system that positively contributes to the development of the countries thereby matching the standards of the western countries. Furthermore, as reported by the World Bank, it has been found that the African countries are still facing the challenges of poverty. In this respect, the report revealed that the poverty levels have significantly increased more than 1990 along with illiteracy where two out of five citizens are found to be lacking literacy (Bargain and Aminjonov, 2021). Additionally, violence cases in the countries have been higher which further affected the countries in developing an effective democratic system.

On the contrary, it has been found that considering the decline in inequality, it can be stated that the poverty levels have declined in the countries. Yet, it has been observed that as the population is highly increased, therefore, the percentages of poor citizens have been rising despite better equality systems (Azzarri and Signorelli, 2020). Further analysis reflected on an understanding that the population in Sub-Saharan Africa has increased to 443 million from 284 million in 1990, along with an increase in the number of poor countries (Transparency.org, 2023). This has potentially reduced the effectiveness of the democratic system in the countries. However, this implies the fact that it is essential for the country to reduce the number of poor people in the countries and establish an effective system of democracy after analysing the opportunities as per the global market trends.

Opportunities of improving democracy in Africa for future
As per the above discussion, it can be stated that the political structure, social structure as well as the economic structure of the African countries have been significantly weak which essentially needs to be improved in order to expand or improve the democracy system and gain a substantial position in the EIU index in the future years. As per the words of Grumbach (2021), one of the basic requirements at present times for a country is to strengthen the governmental institutions in order to strengthen the system of democracy. Additionally, it is essential for the countries to develop effective anti-corruption agencies that can help in reducing the violence cases within the country. This can effectively improve the capacity of the countries in Africa to develop a system of democratic governance. Moreover, it has been found that with the development of technology, education systems in different countries have been improving which essentially needs to be considered by African countries (Stevens and Haines, 2020).

In this content of discussion, it can be mentioned that there is a high opportunity for the African countries to improve the literacy percentage thereby improving the educational system. As stated by Karimov and Karimova (2021), technological development around the globe has provided a base for countries for improving their internal systems such as education that can help in increasing the literacy rates. Moreover, with technological advancements, societal development can also be seen which can further help countries in improving their electoral systems thereby supporting positive growth of democracy. This view sheds light on an understanding that the African countries essentially need to incorporate the technological developments that can help in improving the societal structure with positive development of education, political systems, economic development as well as electoral processes. This, in turn, can further assist the countries in reducing the increased challenges of poverty, corruption and weaker civil society thereby reducing the barriers of effective democratic systems.
On the other hand, the Sub-Saharan African countries significantly need to provide free access to the media that can help the countries in gaining information regarding other countries as well thereby shaping the policies and strategies undertaken by the governmental authorities for growth of the democratic governance (Reglitz 2020). Furthermore, it is essential to improve the economic system as well thereby creating job opportunities for the citizens which can potentially contribute in reducing the poverty levels. This can further boost the performance of the countries with respect to democracy and help in improving the system thereby achieving the target of gaining a stable position within the EIU index. However, addressing the global trends of technology, education and other developments, African countries can be capable of expanding their democratic horizon.

Conclusion
The present essay hereby brings into conclusion that the EIU system of assessing the democracy system of countries has been based on five significant indicators that reflects political culture, civil society, political participation, and governmental functions. In this context, it has emerged from the discussion that the evaluation system has been partially ineffective for assessing the democracy in African countries as the political and economic structure of Africa is different to that of the western countries. Furthermore, the study concludes African countries scoring lowest scores for the index reflecting the challenges of poverty, corruption and literacy. However, with technological developments, strengthening institutions and providing free media access, democracy can be expanded.
 
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