How many coups in Africa?
The coups in Gabon and Niger are just the latest in what appears to be a rising trend in military interventions in West and Central Africa.
Last year there were five. Three ended in failure (Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia and the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe) and two, both in Burkina Faso, were successful.
In 2021, there were six coup attempts in Africa, four of them successful.
But the prevalence of military takeovers is still far lower than in the years following independence.
Overall, Africa has experienced more coups than any other continent. Of the 18 coups recorded globally since 2017, all but one – Myanmar in 2021 – have been in Africa.
The chair of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat last year expressed concern about “the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government”.- BBC
