The state of the local economy does have an influence on Africans’ assessments of their country’s leader, at least to some extent. It is important to note that many countries in the region — including those that are not resource rich — experienced relatively strong economic growth from 2010 to 2011. But other factors are also at play. Confidence in institutions is strongly associated with approval of the chief executive’s performance. Those who are confident in the honesty of elections are far more likely than those who are not to say they approve of their leader’s performance. Confidence in the judicial system elicits similar levels of approval ratings.
