Africa’s list of sovereign island nations include the Union of the Comoros, Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Mauritius, Republic of Seychelles, Republic of Cape Verde and Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe. These island nations are little examined as compared to African countries on the mainland. However, one key peculiarity about them is that except for the trouble-stricken Madagascar they are generally freer. An article in The Economist examines this phenomenon. Here is an excerpt:

Cape Verde may be best known for white sand beaches. But the archipelago, about 500km off the coast of Africa, has something else going for it. It is one of the region’s few fully fledged democracies.

Africa has more than its share of despots. But archipelagoes like Cape Verde seem to have avoided this curse. Four of Africa’s five island-states with less than 1.5m inhabitants are rated “free” by Freedom House, an American think-tank. This means they are largely liberal and democratic. For the continent as a whole, fewer than one in five countries is “free”.

Find the full article here.