African leaders are known to be notorious for holding on to power without ever wanting to exit. This is true for both elected presidents and those who came to power through coups. Of the 10 longest-serving presidents in the world, six are African leaders, some of whom are still in power and extending their stay.
A majority of these leaders pose as the last hope of the masses, while manipulating elections or forcefully amending their country’s constitutions to continuously remain in power.
Here are the longest-serving presidents in Africa
1. Teodoro Obiang Nguema – Equatorial Guinea
- Age: 83 years
- Assumed office: 1979
- Years in power: 45 years
Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea is currently the longest-serving president in Africa, having spent more than 45 years in power. He came to power after ousting his uncle and former dictator, Francisco Macías Nguema, in 1979 and assumed the position of the Chairman of the Supreme Military Council.
In 1982, he was elected the second president of the country for a seven-year term. Nguema was re-elected as the sole candidate in 1989, 1992, 1996, 2002, 2009, 2016, and again in 2022, which he was said to have won, clinching over 99% of the votes.
Nugema is considered to be one of the most brutal dictators in Africa today. He has been accused of impunity, extrajudicial killings, and corruption through which he amassed a net worth of over $600 million, making him one of the wealthiest presidents in Africa.
2. Paul Biya – Cameroon
- Age: 92 years
- Assumed office: 1982
- Years in power: 43 years
Paul Biya is the longest-serving president on the African continent, only after Teodoro Obiang Nguema. He came to power in 1982 as the second president of Cameroon after the resignation of the country’s first president, Ahmadou Ahidjo.
In 1984, he contested the country’s presidential election as the sole candidate and won. He was reelected in 1988 and 1992, when he allowed for a multiparty election for the first time. Biya won all subsequent presidential elections in the country, even though most remained controversial. To remain in power, Paul Biya got the National Assembly to remove term limits in 2008 amidst violent protests. Currently in his seventh term as president, Biya is contesting in the country’s 2025 elections.
In his years in power, Biya has been accused of various human rights abuses. There are rumors that he is preparing his son, Franck Biya, to succeed him as president of Cameroon.
3. Denis Sassou Nguesso – Republic of the Congo
- Age: 81 years
- Assumed office: 1979 to 1992, 1997 to date
- Years in power: 40 years
Denis Sassou Nguesso served as the president of the Republic of the Congo first from 1979 to 1992, and then he returned from 1997 to date. Cumulatively, he has been in power for more than 40 years.
In 1979, he was elected president of the country and reelected for three terms before he lost his re-election bid in 1992. He was elected again in 1997 and reelected in 2002 and in all subsequent elections. Like others, he got the country’s constitution amended to extend his stay in power.
He has been accused, alongside his son, of corruption and embezzlement of public funds.
4. Yoweri Museveni- Uganda
- Age: 80 years
- Assumed office: 1986
- Years in power: 39 years
Yoweri Museveni came to power in 1986 as the 9th president of Uganda after forcing Tito Okello out of power. In 1996, he conducted and won the elections, transitioning into a democratic government. Museveni won the next elections in 2001 and all others that followed, currently in his sixth term.
To push his stay in power, the Ugandan president amended the constitution to remove the age limit, which barred people above 75 and below 35 from running for president. Before then, he changed the constitution from the two-term limit it provided to remove limits on presidential terms.
Museveni’s government has been accused of human rights violations and corruption.
5. King Mwatsi III – Eswatini (Swaziland)
- Age: 57 years
- Assumed office: 1986
- Years in power: 39 years
Born Makhosetive Dlamini, the King of Eswatini became the youngest ruling monarch in the world in 1986 when he took over the reins of his kingdom as king. With the constitution allowing him ultimate authority, which gives him total control of every sector of the country.
One of the last absolute Monarchs in Africa, he is expected to remain in power until his death, after which one of his sons or family members will take after him.
The king has been accused of undermining human rights, clamping down on freedom of speech, and living a luxurious lifestyle in a nation where many are starving.
6. Isaias Afwerki- Eritrea
- Age: 79 years
- Assumed office: 1993
- Years in power: 32 years
In 1993, Isais Afwerki became the first president and head of state of the country after it gained independence from Ethiopia. Considered a dictator and authoritarian leader, he has continued to rule the East African country of over 3 million people without any form of constitution.
The country has never had any presidential or parliamentary elections. Although there were some planned elections in the past, Isaias later shelved them indefinitely. In 2001, he was encouraged by his vice and ministers to step down, but that did not lead to anything.
The government has been accused of human rights abuses and the imprisonment of over 10,000 political prisoners.
7. Idriss Deby- Chad
- Age: 69 years
- Assumed office: 1991 to 2021
- Years in power: 30 years
Idriss Deby was the president of Chad from 1991 until his death in April 2021. He came to power through a military coup that ousted the government of Hissene Habre in December 1990. Although he introduced a multi-party system in the country, from the one-party system that had been practiced before he came, he still won all the elections he contested until 2021, when he died.
Like many other African leaders who stayed long in power, Deby had the constitution amended through a referendum in 2005 to eliminate in 2005.
In 2021, after winning the presidential elections for a sixth term, he joined forces to fight rebel forces. It was in the line of this battle that he sustained lethal gunshot injuries, which later cost him his life on April 20.
8. Omar al-Bashir – Sudan
- Age: 81
- Assumed office: 1989 to 2019
- Years in power: 30 years
Omar al-Bashir came to power in 1989 following a military coup that ousted the government of Sadiq al-Mahdi, and then in 1993, he elevated himself to the position of the President of the country. In 1996, he was elected president and was reelected in 2000.
He won all the elections conducted under his watch and remained in power until 2019, when a coup d’état, engineered by months of protests and civil unrest, was carried out against him.
After he was ousted, the former Chadian president was placed under house arrest, and from there, he was moved to Kobar Prison on charges of inciting and participating in the killing of protesters. He was also tried for corruption and money laundering, for which he was later convicted.
9. Jose Eduardo dos Santos – Angola
- Age: 79 years
- Assumed office: 1979 to 2017
- Years in power: 38 years
Dos Santos was the second President of Angola, and at the time of his death, he was the second-longest-serving president in Africa, only after Teodoro Obiang Nguema. He came to power in 1979, after he was elected to take over from Agostinho Neto, who died in power.
He was elected again in 1992 as president. In 2000, he promised to relinquish power, but in 2003, he was elected again. Because of the new constitution that was introduced in the country, he remained as president after the 2008 Angolan Parliamentary elections in which his party secured the highest number of seats.
In 2016, Jose Eduardo dos Santos announced he would finally leave power after the 2017 elections, leading to his retirement. His government was accused of being corrupt, having amassed so much wealth for himself and his family.
He passed away in 2022 at the age of 79, following various health complications triggered by a cardiorespiratory attack and COVID-19.
See Also: Rise And Fall Of The Youngest African President in History, Valentine Strasser of Sierra Leone
10. Robert Mugabe- Zimbabwe
- Age: 95 years
- Assumed office: 1980 to 2017
- Years in power: 37 years
Robert Mugabe was a revolutionary leader who rose to become the second president of Zimbabwe in 1987. Considered to be one of Africa’s strongest presidents during his time, he maintained power until 2017, muscling out his opposition in all elections he conducted.
Mugabe made an effort to remain in power beyond 2017, but due to old age and a fallout with his vice whom he had sacked to create a path for his wife, Grace Mugabe, to succeed him, a coup was carried out against him by the military, summarily ending his rule.
Accused of leading the economy to its knees and brazen corruption, Mugabe tried to return to power but failed. He died in 2019 at the age of 95.
