Despite rising global conflicts and deteriorating peacefulness worldwide, several African countries continue to maintain peace, stability and safety for their citizens.

The 2025 Global Peace Index (GPI) highlights the continent’s leaders in peace, ranking African countries based on societal safety, ongoing conflict, and militarisation.

While Africa faces challenges from terrorism, political unrest, and cross-border conflicts, these top-ranked nations have managed to sustain relative stability, strong governance, and low levels of militarisation, making them models of resilience in a region often affected by insecurity.

Global peacefulness continues to decline, according to the 2025 Global Peace Index (GPI) produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP).

Covering 163 countries and nearly the entire world population, the GPI measures peace across three domains: societal safety and security, ongoing domestic and international conflict, and militarisation.

The 2025 report finds that global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.36 per cent, marking the 13th decline in 17 years. While 74 countries improved, 87 recorded worsening scores, reflecting rising geopolitical tensions, increasing militarisation, and the breakdown of traditional alliances.

Despite regional instability, these African nations have sustained relative peace and strong governance, setting them apart in the continent

Globally, Iceland retains its position as the world’s most peaceful country, while Russia is ranked the least peaceful for the first time, followed by Ukraine, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Yemen.

Sub-Saharan Africa recorded a slight deterioration of 0.17 per cent, with half of the countries improving and the other half declining. Regional insecurity is driven by political unrest, terrorism, and cross-border conflicts.

How African nations ranked

Mauritius leads Africa with the highest peace rating, maintaining stability through consistent democratic governance and a lack of involvement in internal or external conflicts.

Botswana, Namibia, and The Gambia follow closely, benefiting from strong societal safety and low militarisation.

West African nations such as Sierra Leone, Ghana, Senegal, and Liberia also feature, reflecting improvements in governance and security.

Madagascar and Zambia round out the top 10, showing that pockets of stability exist even amid wider regional challenges. (Business Insider Africa)