At independence, most African states had two legislative chambers – a lower and upper chamber – in their parliament. African leaders saw that as a colonial legacy and as inefficient, so most states removed the upper chambers. Before 1990, only two states kept these bicameral parliaments: Liberia and Nigeria.
Since then, however, 40% of the 44 sub-Saharan African states that hold regular elections have added a legislative chamber to their parliament. These countries include Gabon, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
The resurgence of African upper houses is puzzling and goes against a worldwide trend. Outside the continent, countries are getting rid of their upper chambers. In fact, the number of two-chamber parliaments globally has fallen by 33% in the last 30 years.
