Category: World Service
Date: 15.09.2005
Printable version
As part of its Who Runs Your World? season of programmes, BBC World Service has commissioned the Gallup International Voice of the People 2005 poll of more than 50,000 people in 68 countries – representing the view of 1.3 billion people worldwide – about who has power, who wants it and how it is used.
The findings provide a fascinating insight into who people think has power over them, who they trust and whether they believe they can change and improve their lives.
In Africa, the survey was conducted in Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Togo.
The main findings include:
Across Africa, religion plays an extremely important role – religious leaders are the most trusted group (trusted by 74% of Africans vs 33% globally) and with more people (72%) wanting to give them more power than any other group. Feelings in Nigeria are particularly strong, with 85% trusting religious leaders and a similar number keen to give them more power. Fifty-six per cent of Africans define who they are by their religion.
This is particularly so in Egypt (87%) and Nigeria (62%).
The main exception to this is in Kenya, where nationality is most important to them (45% compared to 18% across Africa).
For 13% of Africans, a religious leader has had the most influence on decisions they have taken about their life over the previous year (compared to 5% globally). The majority (57%) have been most influenced by their family. Religious leaders are most influential in Nigeria and Ghana (18% and 16% respectively).
In East Africa (represented in the survey by Kenya and Ethiopia), people are generally more positive about their own influence and ability to change their lives. Sixty-four per cent of people in East Africa are positive, compared to on average 37% in West Africa (West Africa represented by Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Togo). The exception within West Africa is Ghana, where 65% of people believe they have the ability to change their lives.
The survey was conducted between May and July 2005.
Who Runs Your World? is the BBC's largest ever single-themed season of programmes.
Running from 16 September to 2 October, it will feature on all the BBC global news services - TV, radio and online - in English and in 42 other languages including Hausa, Swahili and Kinyarwanda/Kirundi.
The season explores power: who wants it, how it is used and how it is changing.
And it is not just about politics, as every aspect of life comes under the Who Runs Your World? spotlight including religion, business, sport, entertainment and the family.
Special programmes include the five-part radio documentary Looking for Democracy, a debate on The Millenium Goals and an exploration of very personal relationships in the programme Face to Face.
Note to Editors
World Service is an international radio and online broadcaster delivering programmes and services in 43 languages.
It uses multiple platforms to reach 149 million listeners globally, including SW, AM, FM, digital satellite and cable channels.
It has more than 2,000 partner radio stations which take BBC content, and numerous partnerships supplying content to mobile phones.
Its international online sites include audio and visual content and offer users opportunities to interact directly with world events. They receive over 330 million page impressions a month.
