Unpacking the rankings, the Media Foundation for West Africa warns that media freedom is in sharp decline across West Africa, as 11 of 16 countries regress in RSF's 2025 Press Freedom Index.
This statement was originally published on mfwa.org on 14 May 2025.
West Africa is facing a sharp erosion of press freedom, according to the 2025 global rankings. The RSF report, released in early May, also reflected a worsening global trend, downgrading the state of press freedom worldwide from “problematic” to “difficult.”
Eleven out of the region’s 16 countries saw declines, with Guinea recording the steepest fall, plummeting 31 places from 74th in 2024 to 103rd this year. Only four West African countries – Cape Verde, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Liberia – recorded improvements, while The Gambia remained stagnant.
Widespread declines across the region
The 2025 rankings show a troubling pattern of decline across the region: Burkina Faso experienced a steep nineteen place drop, from 86 to 105; Guinea-Bissau fell eighteen places, from 92 to 110; Mauritania dropped seventeen places, from 33 in 2024 to 50 in 2025; Ivory Coast, eleven places, from 53 to 64, while Nigeria slid ten places, from 112 to 122.
Also, Togo slumped eight places, from 113 to 121, Mali fell five places, from 114 to 119; Niger and Benin, both dropped three places from 89 to 92, and from 80 to 83 respectively, while Ghana fell from 50 to 52.
Countries that improved
Four countries recorded improvements, they include Senegal which rose twenty places from 94 to 74, Cape Verde which rose eleven places, from 41 in 2024 to 30 in 2025; Sierra Leone which climbed eight spots, from 64 to 56, and Liberia, which rose six places up, from 60 to 54.
The Gambia stagnated at its previous position from 2024 (58), showing no movement.
Press freedom as a mirror of civic space
The rankings paints a revealing picture of civic space in West Africa. As democracy weakens, especially in countries like Mali, where media houses are arbitrarily suspended and activists are abducted, Niger, where the country’s media association has been suspended and journalists are often arrested and Burkina Faso where the military junta has suspended the country’s journalists’ association amidst the conscription of journalists and activists for the country’s ongoing war campaign against terror– now under military regimes – press freedom suffers.
Journalists and media outlets are among the first victims of rising authoritarianism and shrinking civic space. These rankings should prompt urgent action. Stakeholders must intensify efforts to defend freedom of expression and protect media independence across the region.
