The Open Parliament Index (OPI) is a tool used to assess and compare the level of parliamentary openness across African parliaments. It was developed through a collaboration involving the Parliamentary Network Africa (PNAfrica), the Africa Parliamentary Monitoring Organisations Network (APMON) and other parliamentary monitoring organisations, with technical support from Directorio Legislativo. The first edition of the Africa OPI was launched in July 2022.
The OPI is intended to help answer a practical question: How open is a parliament to the public? It examines whether citizens can access information about Parliament, participate in parliamentary processes and hold Parliament accountable.
What does the OPI assess?
The Index assesses parliamentary openness across three main dimensions:
Transparency – whether Parliament makes information about its work available to the public, including information about parliamentary processes, decisions and activities, and whether there are frameworks that support the public’s right to information.
Citizen participation – the extent to which citizens and civil society have opportunities and mechanisms to participate in, engage with and contribute to parliamentary processes.
Public accountability – the mechanisms through which Parliament and parliamentarians are accountable to the public, including transparency around decisions and the exercise of parliamentary responsibilities.
The OPI uses evidence to assess these areas rather than simply measuring whether a parliament has a particular website or publishes a particular document. The assessment involves both civil society organisations and parliaments, allowing their assessments and the evidence supporting them to be considered in the measurement process.
What is the purpose of the OPI?
The OPI is not simply intended to produce a ranking of African parliaments. Its broader purpose is to identify gaps in parliamentary openness and provide evidence that can support reforms.
It aims to:
establish common standards for assessing parliamentary openness;
identify areas where parliaments can improve transparency, participation and accountability;
enable parliamentary monitoring organisations and parliaments to track progress over time;
document good practices that can be shared between parliaments; and
support collaboration between civil society and parliaments in developing reforms, policies and action plans.
The second edition assessed 33 African parliaments and was launched in 2025. It was co-created by PNAfrica and Directorio Legislativo and builds on the first edition launched in 2022.
Why is the OPI important?
Parliaments make laws, conduct oversight and represent citizens, so access to information about their work is important for meaningful public engagement. The OPI provides a structured way of looking at whether parliamentary institutions are sufficiently open for citizens and civil society to access information, participate in parliamentary processes and hold their representatives and institutions accountable.
In this sense, the OPI is best understood as both an assessment tool and a reform tool: the findings can show where openness is working, where gaps exist, and where further reforms or engagement may be needed.
OPI 2022 (English, French and Portuguese)
Africa Open Parliament Index Second Edition
Africa Open Parliament Index Second Edition (French and Portuguese)