Why young, urban or rich Africans are less likely to vote

PURVEYORS OF BALLOT papers, indelible ink and polling booths will do well in Africa this year. No fewer than 18 countries are to hold general elections. Not all will be free and fair, but in many the stakes are high. In Ethiopia the popularity of Abiy Ahmed, a reformist prime minister, will be tested at the polls for the first time. Burkina Faso, which is battling jihadists, will hold only its second poll since Blaise Compaoré, a long-serving dictator, was overthrown in 2014. And in Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo faces a tight race for a second term.Given the stakes, one might expect voters to turn out in droves. Yet in Africa fewer tend to vote than elsewhere, even if the election is not rigged. More surprisingly it is the young, rich and urban who tend to stay away from the polls. Why?