It takes countries with formidable institutions to ensure elected presidents don’t try to lead beyond their term limits. But that still doesn’t mean some presidents won’t try.

Some leaders across the world have managed to cling to power for decades, either by force, breaking laws, or bending constitutions.

Below is a list of the current longest-serving African heads of state

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo — Equatorial Guinea 

The Equatorial Guinea president is currently the longest-serving president in the world, having ruled for 45 years.

Obiang, who came to power in an August 3, 1979 coup won a sixth term in November 2022, at the age of 80.

He has previously been criticized for allegedly rigging elections to stay in power. He is believed to be preparing his son, Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, usually called Teodorin, to be his successor.

Paul Biya — Cameroon 

Paul Biya of Cameroon has been in power since 1982, making him the second longest-serving African President.   He is also the oldest head of state in the world at 91 years old.

Denis Sassou-Nguesso — Democratic Republic of the Congo 

Denis Sassou Nguesso, has been in power for 40 years. He was president from 1979 to 1992, then returned to office in 1997 after a civil war.

He was re-elected in 2016 after the passing of a new constitution that adjusted presidential terms from seven to five years.

Nguesso was in the same year estimated to have a personal fortune of $600 million, making him one of the richest presidents in Africa.

The 80-year-old won a fourth mandate on March 21, 2022, and will almost certainly be vying for an extension come 2026.

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Yoweri Museveni — Uganda

Yoweri Museveni has led his country for 38 years since January 1986. He was re-elected in January 2021 for a sixth term after a contested campaign.

In his inaugural speech in Parliament after capturing power in 1986 through guerrilla struggle, Mr Museveni condemned African leaders who overstayed in power.

He was in March this year accused of treating Uganda as his “personal enterprise” after appointing his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba to head the defence forces.

Isaias Afwerki — Eritrea 

Isaias Afwerki, 78, has ruled Eritrea since May 1993 after leading the country’s independence movement from Ethiopia.

Eritrea, which has one of the world’s worst rights records, imposes indefinite military conscription that has seen many flee the country for safety and opportunity elsewhere.

In 2022, the UN counted 501,677 refugees and 76,071 Eritrean asylum-seekers around the world, equivalent to around half the population of Eritrea’s capital Asmara.

King Mswati III

Eswatini, Africa’s last remaining absolute monarchy, has been ruled by King Mswati III for 36 years. He ascended to the throne in April 1986 aged just 18.

Ismail Omar Guelleh — Djibouti

Ismaïl Omar Guellé has served as the President of Djibouti since 1999, making him one of the longest-serving rulers in Africa.

In 2010, he persuaded the National Assembly to amend the Constitution to allow him to run for a third term. In two years’ time, he could be on to his sixth term.

While general elections are routinely boycotted by the opposition, the few that have run against him, like Zakaria Ismail did in 2021, have accused Guelleh of stuffing ballot boxes to force his unbroken incumbency.

Paul Kagame — Rwanda 

Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, has been in power since 2000. In the last presidential elections in July 2024, Kagame won with an emphatic 99.18 percent of the vote, which rights activists dismissed as a stark reminder of the lack of democracy in the country.

He is credited with rebuilding a shattered nation after the 1994 genocide but is also accused of ruling in a climate of fear and of fomenting instability in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Faure Gnassingbé — Togo

For nearly six decades, Togo’s presidency has been a family affair. Faure Gnassingbé was first elected in 2005 to succeed his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who took office in a coup in 1967.

In 2019, a constitutional reform paved the way for Gnassingbe to potentially rule until 2030.

He won a disputed election in 2020, and the country was expected to hold a presidential election next year, which, if he had won, would have been his final term in office.