APMON Launches 2025 Africa Open Parliament Index, Calls for Bold Reforms to Deepen 

Legislative Openness

 Africa Parliamentary Monitoring Organizations Network 

(APMON) has launched the Second Edition of the Africa Open Parliament Index (OPI) in a virtual 

event that brought together civil society organizations, development partners, lawmakers, and 

media from across the continent.

The 2025 OPI provides a comprehensive assessment of 33 African national parliaments, 

measuring their performance across three critical dimensions of legislative openness: 

Transparency, Civic Participation, and Public Accountability.

 The process has been a collaborative 

effort among partners who coordinate regional and national networks of parliamentary 

monitoring organizations across Eastern, Southern and West Africa.

Speaking during the launch, Mr Sammy Obeng, Secretary General of APMON, emphasized the 

growing importance of openness in strengthening democratic governance.

“The OPI is not just a ranking,  it is a roadmap. It challenges parliaments to open up their work, 

engage citizens meaningfully, and demonstrate accountability. 

According to Mr Obeng, the 2025 edition shows 

encouraging progress in many countries, but also highlights areas where urgent reforms are 

needed.

In the results published, the parliaments that ranked in the top three included the bicameral 

Parliament of South Africa (ranked 1st with an overall score of 79.69%), then the unicameral

Parliament of Ghana (ranked 2nd with an overall score of 77.60%) and the bicameral Parliament 

of Kenya (ranked 3rd with an overall score of 73.96%). Parliaments that ranked lowest in the 

Index included the Parliament of Comoros (ranked 31st with an overall score of 29.69%), the 

Parliament of South Sudan (ranked 32nd with an overall score of 28.65%) and the Parliament of 

Guinea-Bissau (ranked 33rd with an overall score of 28.13%)

The rankings put the South African Parliament as the most open parliament in Southern Africa, 

followed by the Parliament of Ghana leading in West Africa, and the Parliament of Kenya leading  in East Africa.

The event featured a panel discussion of civil society leaders who reflected on the results and 

shared strategies for co-creating reforms that will make African parliaments more open, 

responsive, and citizen-centered.

Report by PKB