There is a long-standing idea across many African societies that a person does not exist in isolation, that identity is not self-contained but shaped, continuously, through others. It sits within the philosophy of Ubuntu, often expressed in the Zulu phrase ‘Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu’, the idea that a person is a person through other people.
What makes this idea enduring is that it assumes a degree of openness, resting on the belief that people are, by nature, connected, and that those connections extend beyond immediate or familiar circles. There is, embedded within it, an expectation that engagement across difference is not only possible, but necessary to how societies function and how individuals come to be recognised within them.
It is becoming more relevant to consider this now, because Africa, like much of the world, is beginning to move in a very different direction, as economic anxiety rises, geopolitical tensions become more pronounced, and technological disruption changes how people engage with information and with each other, resulting in a growing tendency towards a more insular mindset.
The recently released 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual survey spanning 28 countries and more than 30,000 respondents, finds that globally, on average, around 70% of people are either unwilling or hesitant to trust someone whose values, information sources, problem-solving approaches, or backgrounds differ from their own, pointing to a more insular mindset taking hold. Across Africa’s major economies, similar patterns are emerging. In South Africa, 68% of people on average say they are either unwilling or hesitant to trust someone who is different from them. In Kenya, the figure stands at 66%, and in Nigeria, just over half of the population, at 51%, expresses the same reluctance.
The issue is that those who are more inward-looking consistently express lower levels of trust in institutions, particularly where leadership does not reflect their own values or backgrounds. The Trust Barometer measures trust across business, government, media and NGOs, and what it shows is that people in the same country are not experiencing these institutions in the same way, arriving at very different conclusions about whether they are competent, whether they act fairly, and whether they can be relied on, with income, in particular, becoming a defining line in how those judgements are formed.
In Nigeria, high-income respondents report an overall Trust Index (average percent trust in business, government, media, NGOs) of 85, firmly in the “trust” category, while low-income respondents sit at 59, at the upper end of “neutral”, leaving a 26-point gap, the highest on record for the country. This points to a growing separation in how institutions are perceived and experienced, with higher-income groups continuing to find reliability where others do not. In South Africa and Kenya, the pattern is less pronounced, but still evident. In South Africa, high-income respondents report a Trust Index of 61, compared to 53 among lower-income groups, an eight-point gap that has narrowed from earlier peaks, and in Kenya, both groups fall within the “trust” category, at 73 and 66 respectively.
Across all three markets, higher-income respondents tend to assign stronger ratings to institutions across both competence and ethics, while lower-income groups are more cautious, and in some cases more critical. When trust is not held consistently across society, institutions lose their ability to function as shared points of reference, making it harder to build consensus and move forward on issues that require collective alignment.
There is a way around this, however, and it is through a novel concept called trust brokering. A trust broker helps to create a path for progress and cooperation despite insularity by surfacing common interests and translating their needs, goals, and realities for one another.
And in Africa, that responsibility is being placed squarely on employers and business leaders. More than three-quarters of employees in all three countries say employers are obligated to help bridge divides and build trust between groups that distrust one another. The same expectation extends to CEOs, with large majorities expecting business leaders to play a direct role. What stands out, however, is a clear gap between the level of obligation placed on business and how well it is perceived to be fulfilling that role, creating a more immediate onus on organisations to respond.
What is encouraging is that people are clear about what they expect, and the actions that would make a difference are practical.
The Trust Barometer shows strong support for creating more direct interaction between people from different backgrounds, whether within organisations or through partnerships that bring together groups that would not ordinarily engage. The idea is to allow for meaningful contact, where people are required to engage with different perspectives in ways that are constructive. There is also a clear view that teams should be structured in ways that require individuals with different values and viewpoints to work together, supported by a shared sense of identity and the ability to navigate disagreement productively.
Leadership, in particular, is expected to play a more active role, with CEOs being asked to seek out perspectives that differ from their own and engage directly with groups that may be critical or distrustful, not to resolve disagreement immediately, but to ensure it is understood and accounted for. Done effectively, trust brokering at this level has the potential to overcome insularity and help close the income-based trust gap.
Ubuntu assumes that people recognise themselves in one another, even where there is difference.
What the data suggests is that this is becoming harder to sustain, as trust becomes more contained and unevenly distributed. That does not mean the principle no longer applies, but it can no longer be assumed. It has to be actively built, and African businesses are best placed to do so.
Karena Crerar, CEO at Edelman Africa.