1950 to 2023: Africa’s experiences with military coups

The July 26 coup in the West African nation of Niger marks the ninth attempt to seize power in around the last three years in Western and Central Africa.

Research from Jonathan M Powell & Clayton L Thyne has found that since the 1950s there have been at least 200 attempts to overthrow leaders — with around half lasting more than a week. From 1960 to 2000, on an average, around four coups took place per year in the region, with analysts pointing to military coups being commonplace since the respective countries gained their independence. However, in the past two decades, coups have generally dropped in frequency to around two per year, up until 2019.

In the history of overthrowing leaders in the region, the West African nation of Burkina Faso has experienced nine coups with one failed coup attempt. However Sudan has experienced the most number of coups and attempted coups — 16 — with six of the military interventions succeeding. In West Africa, the attempts at militarily seizing power have typically occurred in what are mostly former French colonies.

Some research indicates some coups have taken place in areas that had also experienced authoritarian rule. As a result, some say the coups have "derailed" the gradual democratic process in these countries. Experts say the biggest driver behind these power grabs are leaders overstaying their time in power, the perception of poor leadership, and corruption amid economic hardships, even as governmental institutions lose strength, creating conditions that are ripe for a coup d'etat by military leaders.

Analysts at the Africa Desk at Media Review Network also claim that foreign interference can be a driver amid the interplay between domestic and geopolitical actors. Allegedly, some Western nations back leaders more aligned to their interests once they perceive a domestic leader to be following their own agenda. Experts also claim that in the current context, coups take place in places where China's footprint is seen to be expanding, in the backdrop of Western leaders wishing to curtail Beijing's advances.

Burundi

Has experienced 11 separate coups, predicated on ethnic faultiness between the Hutu and Tutsi communities.

Ghana

Has experienced eight military coups in two decades, with the first taking place in 1966, as the country’s first prime minister Kwame Nkrumah was deposed from power. The next year, there was another coup attempt by junior army soldiers, which had failed.

Nigeria

Following independence, the country experienced eight coups between 1966 and 1993.

Sierra Leone

Between 1967 and 1971, the country experienced four coups, with another five attempts following in quick succession between 1992 and 1997.

Zimbabwe

In 2017, the army seized control, bringing an end to Robert Mugabe's 37-year-long reign. Contrary to coups elsewhere in the region, in Zimbabwe, one of the leaders who deposed Mugabe, Maj Gen Sibusiso Moyo, repudiated any notion in the media that theirs was a military power grab.

Sudan

In 2019, Omar al Bashir, who had seized power in a military coup in 1989, was deposed from power after protests. The country also experienced a failed coup in 2021.

Mali

In August 2020, a group of Mali’s top army brass led by Assimi Gotta, deposed President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. It followed protests over allegations of increasing insecurity and disputed legislative elections.

In February 2022, amid pressure from its West African neighbours, the military junta agreed to cede control to a civilian-led interim government who would handle an 18-month transition to democratic elections. Nevertheless, discord between the coup leaders and the interim president led to a second coup in May 2021.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which had imposed sanctions on Mali after the coup, removed some sections of the sanctions in 2022 after the coup leaders put forward a two-year transition plan to democracy and a new electoral law, under which the country is expected to hold a presidential election in 2024.

Chad

In 2021, following the death of President Idriss Deby while on a trip to the frontlines to see soldiers fighting rebels, the military took charge. Although the law stipulates that the Speaker of the Parliament should ascend to the presidency, a military council dissolved Parliament on the pretext of ensuring stability.

After Deby's son, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, was named interim President with the charge of managing an 18-month transition to fresh elections. The power transfer, which was widely seen as unconstitutional, resulted in disturbances in the capital, N'Djamena.

Guinea

In 2021, the commander of the country’s special forces, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, deposed President Alpha Conde. A year before, Conde had amended the Constitution to circumvent limits that barred him from pushing for a third term, leading to disturbances.

After becoming the interim president, Doumbouya pledged a path to democratic elections in three years. However, ECOWAS intervened to push forward the timeline, imposing sanctions on those with ties to the military junta, who in January 2023 proposed a two-year transition, a move derided by the Opposition.

Bukina Faso

In January 2022, the army deposed President Rock Kabore and suspended the nation's Constitution and National Assembly. Military leaders claimed he had failed to stop widespread violence.

Despite promises by coup leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba that he would improve the situation, violence spiralled. As a result, military forces launched a second coup in less than a year, when Captain Ibrahim Traore latched on to power in September, after an alleged mutiny.

In 2021, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed concern that coups were making a return to the benighted region, denouncing a perceived lack of unity among the international community in the aftermath of military power grabs.

Guterres has since also condemned the situation in Niger in the strongest terms, all efforts to seize power by force and to undermine democratic governance, peace and stability in the country. He has also called on those involved to exercise restraint and protect the constitutional order.