Coup Belt
Coup Belt | |
---|---|
Geopolitical concept | |
Continent | Africa |
Subregion | Sahel, West Africa and Central Africa |
Countries |
The Coup Belt (
Overview
Origin
Although likely older,
History
Since 1990, 21 of the 27 coups in sub-Saharan Africa have taken place in former French colonies. This has led some to question whether French influence in Africa has a destabilising impact.[17]
The military juntas of Burkina Faso, Mali, and
ECOWAS has tried to actively work on changing this label that is associated with the region, although unsuccessfully; they suspended Mali after their coup in 2021,[22] and also suspended Guinea on 8 September 2021, shortly after a military coup took place in the country.[23][24]
Looking at the subregion of West Africa alone, it should also be noted that the 2020 coup d'état in Mali occurred after a period of nearly six years, since the 2014 Burkina Faso upprising and the ousting of Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaoré, during which there was not a single undemocratic change of government in West Africa.[25] For this subregion, where many countries have a history of civil war and violent conflict, this was a period of remarkable stability, during which ECOWAS even managed to find a peaceful resolution to the 2016–2017 Gambian constitutional crisis.
The coups have largely been similar in nature; most came from dissatisfied militaries who criticised their respective government's handling of Islamic insurgents or protests since 2003.[6] The incoming juntas also tend to have worse relations with the West, with many seeking support from either Russia and the Wagner Group or Turkey instead of France, who helped the countries fight against Islamic insurgents through Operation Barkhane.
The
List of coups d'état in the Coup Belt
Date | Country | Event | Head of state or government |
Coup leader(s) | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
June 1957 | Sudan | 1957 Sudanese coup attempt | Abdallah Khalil | Abdel Rahman Ismail Kabeida | Coup failure |
17 November 1959 | 1959 Sudanese coup attempt | Ibrahim Abboud | Coup failure | ||
13 January 1963 | Togo | 1963 Togolese coup d'état | Sylvanus Olympio |
|
Coup successful |
28 October 1963 | Dahomey | 1963 Dahomeyan coup d'état | Hubert Maga | Christophe Soglo | Coup successful |
17 February 1964 | Gabon | 1964 Gabonese coup d'état | Léon M'ba |
|
Coup briefly successful; M'ba restored following French intervention |
31 December 1965 – 1 January 1966 | Central African Republic | Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état | David Dacko | Jean-Bédel Bokassa | Coup successful |
3 January 1966 | Upper Volta | 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état | Maurice Yaméogo | Sangoulé Lamizana | Coup successful |
16 January 1966 | Nigeria | 1966 Nigerian coup d'état | Nnamdi Azikiwe |
|
Coup failure |
24 February 1966 | Ghana | 1966 Ghanaian coup d'état | Kwame Nkrumah | Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka | Coup successful |
28 July 1966 | Nigeria | 1966 Nigerian counter-coup | Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi | Murtala Muhammed | Coup successful |
13 January 1967 | Togo | 1967 Togolese coup d'état | Nicolas Grunitzky | Étienne Eyadéma
|
Coup successful |
21 March 1967 | Sierra Leone | First 1967 Sierra Leone coup d'état | Siaka Stevens | David Lansana | Coup successful |
23 March 1967 | Second 1967 Sierra Leone coup d'état | David Lansana | Andrew Juxon-Smith | Coup successful | |
18 April 1968 | Sergeants' Coup | Andrew Juxon-Smith | John Amadu Bangura Siaka Stevens |
Coup successful | |
18 November 1968 | Mali | 1968 Malian coup d'état | Modibo Keïta | Moussa Traoré | Coup successful |
25 May 1969 | Sudan | 1969 Sudanese coup d'état | Ismail al-Azhari | Jaafar Nimeiry
|
Coup successful |
24 March 1971 | Sierra Leone | 1971 Sierra Leone coup attempt | Siaka Stevens | John Amadu Bangura | Coup failure |
19–22 July 1971 | Sudan | 1971 Sudanese coup d'état | Jaafar Nimeiry | Hashem al Atta | Coup briefly successful; Nimeiry restored following counter-coup |
13 January 1972 | Ghana | 1972 Ghanaian coup d'état | Kofi Abrefa Busia | Ignatius Kutu Acheampong | Coup successful |
26 October 1972 | Dahomey | 1972 Dahomeyan coup d'état | Presidential Council | Mathieu Kérékou | Coup successful |
15 April 1974 | Niger | 1974 Nigerien coup d'état | Hamani Diori | Seyni Kountché | Coup successful |
13–15 April 1975 | Chad | 1975 Chadian coup d'état | N’Garta Tombalbaye
|
Noël Milarew Odingar Wadel Abdelkader Kamougué |
Coup successful |
29 July 1975 | Nigeria | 1975 Nigerian coup d'état | Yakubu Gowon | Joseph Nanven Garba Murtala Muhammed |
Coup successful |
13 February 1976 | 1976 Nigerian coup attempt | Murtala Muhammed | Buka Suka Dimka
|
Coup failure; Muhammed assassinated | |
2–5 July 1976 | Sudan | 1976 Sudanese coup attempt | Jaafar Nimeiry | Sadiq al-Mahdi Muhammad Nour Saad |
Coup failure |
17 January 1977 | People's Republic of Benin | 1977 Benin coup attempt | Mathieu Kérékou | Bob Denard | Coup failure |
10 July 1978 | Mauritania | 1978 Mauritanian coup d'état | Moktar Ould Daddah | Mustafa Ould Salek | Coup successful |
6 April 1979 | 1979 Mauritanian coup d'état | Mustafa Ould Salek | Coup successful | ||
21 September 1979 | Central African Empire | Operation Caban | Bokassa I
|
David Dacko | Operation successful |
12 April 1980 | Liberia | 1980 Liberian coup d'état | William Tolbert | Samuel Doe | Coup successful |
14 November 1980 | Guinea-Bissau | 1980 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état | Luís Cabral | João Bernardo Vieira | Coup successful |
25 November 1980 | Upper Volta | 1980 Upper Volta coup d'état
|
Sangoulé Lamizana | Saye Zerbo | Coup successful |
16 March 1981 | Mauritania | 1981 Mauritanian coup attempt | Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla | Ahmed Salim Ould Sidi | Coup failure |
30 July – 4 August 1981 | The Gambia | 1981 Gambian coup attempt | Dawda Jawara | Kukoi Sanyang | Coup failure following Senegalese intervention |
1 September 1981 | Central African Republic | 1981 Central African Republic coup d'état | David Dacko | André Kolingba | Coup successful |
31 December 1981 | Ghana | 1981 Ghanaian coup d'état | Hilla Limann | Jerry Rawlings | Coup successful |
3 March 1982 | Central African Republic | 1982 Central African Republic coup d'état attempt
|
André Kolingba | Ange-Félix Patassé | Coup failure |
7 November 1982 | Upper Volta | 1982 Upper Voltan coup d'état | Say Zerbo | Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo | Coup successful |
28 February 1983 | 1983 Upper Voltan coup d'état attempt
|
Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo | Saye Zerbo | Coup failure | |
4 August 1983 | 1983 Upper Voltan coup d'état | Thomas Sankara | Coup successful | ||
31 December 1983 | Nigeria | 1983 Nigerian coup d'état | Shehu Shagari | Muhammadu Buhari | Coup successful |
3 April 1984 | Guinea | 1984 Guinean coup d'état | Louis Lansana Beavogui | Lansana Conté | Coup successful |
April 1984 | Cameroon | 1984 Cameroonian coup attempt | Paul Biya | Coup failure | |
12 December 1984 | Mauritania | 1984 Mauritanian coup d'état | Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla | Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya | Coup successful |
6 April 1985 | Sudan | 1985 Sudanese coup d'état | Jaafar Nimeiry | Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab | Coup successful |
27 August 1985 | Nigeria | 1985 Nigerian coup d'état | Muhammadu Buhari | Ibrahim Babangida | Coup successful |
12 November 1985 | Liberia | 1985 Liberian coup d'état attempt
|
Samuel Doe | Thomas Quiwonkpa | Coup failure |
23 September 1986 | Togo | 1986 Togolese coup attempt | Gnassingbé Eyadéma | Coup failure | |
23 March 1987 | Sierra Leone | 1987 Sierra Leonean coup d'état attempt | Joseph Saidu Momoh | Francis Minah | Coup failure |
15 October 1987 | Burkina Faso | 1987 Burkina Faso coup d'état | Thomas Sankara | Blaise Compaoré | Coup successful |
30 June 1989 | Sudan | 1989 Sudanese coup d'état | Ahmed al-Mirghani | Omar al-Bashir | Coup successful |
18 September 1989 | Burkina Faso | 1989 Burkina Faso coup attempt | Blaise Compaoré | Coup failure | |
22 April 1990 | Nigeria | 1990 Nigerian coup attempt | Ibrahim Babangida | Gideon Orkar | Coup failure |
3 December 1990 | Chad | 1990 Chadian coup d'état | Hissène Habré | Idriss Déby | Coup successful |
26 March 1991 | Mali | 1991 Malian coup d'état | Moussa Traoré | Amadou Toumani Touré | Coup successful |
29 April 1992 | Sierra Leone | 1992 Sierra Leonean coup d'état | Joseph Saidu Momoh | Valentine Strasser | Coup successful |
17 November 1993 | Nigeria | 1993 Nigerian coup d'état | Ernest Shonekan | Sani Abacha | Coup successful |
22 July 1994 | The Gambia | 1994 Gambian coup d'état | Dawda Jawara | Yahya Jammeh | Coup successful |
27 January 1996 | Niger | 1996 Nigerien coup d'état | Mahamane Ousmane | Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara | Coup successful |
9 April 1999 | 1999 Nigerien coup d'état | Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara | Daouda Malam Wanké | Coup successful | |
24 December 1999 | Ivory Coast | 1999 Ivorian coup d'état | Henri Konan Bédié | Tuo Fozié | Coup successful |
15 March 2003 | Central African Republic | 2003 Central African Republic coup d'état | Ange-Félix Patassé | François Bozizé | Coup successful |
8–9 June 2003 | Mauritania | 2003 Mauritanian coup attempt | Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya | Saleh Ould Hanenna | Coup failure |
14 September 2003 | Guinea-Bissau | 2003 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état | Kumba Ialá | Veríssimo Correia Seabra | Coup successful |
7 October 2003 | Burkina Faso | 2003 Burkina Faso coup d'état attempt
|
Blaise Compaoré | Luther Diapagri Oualy | Coup failure |
16 May 2004 | Chad | 2004 Chadian coup attempt | Idriss Déby | Bechir Haggar | Coup failure |
5 February 2005 | Togo | 2005 Togolese coup d'état | Fambaré Ouattara Natchaba | Coup successful | |
3 August 2005 | Mauritania | 2005 Mauritanian coup d'état | Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya | Coup successful | |
14 March 2006 | Chad | 2006 Chadian coup attempt | Idriss Déby |
|
Coup failure |
6 August 2008 | Mauritania | 2008 Mauritanian coup d'état | Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi |
|
Coup successful |
23 December 2008 | Guinea | 2008 Guinean coup d'état | Aboubacar Somparé | Moussa Dadis Camara | Coup successful |
18 February 2010 | Niger | 2010 Nigerien coup d'état | Mamadou Tandja | Salou Djibo | Coup successful |
16 July 2011 | 2011 Nigerien coup d'état attempt | Mahamadou Issoufou | Coup failure | ||
21 March 2012 | Mali | 2012 Malian coup d'état | Amadou Toumani Touré | Amadou Sanogo | Coup successful |
23–24 March 2013 | Central African Republic | Battle of Bangui (2013) | François Bozizé | Michel Djotodia | Séléka victory |
1 May 2013 | Chad | 2013 Chadian coup attempt | Idriss Déby | Moussa Tao Mahamat | Coup failure |
3 November 2014 | Burkina Faso | 2014 Burkina Faso uprising | Blaise Compaoré | Uprising successful | |
30 December 2014 | The Gambia | 2014 Gambian coup attempt | Yahya Jammeh | Lamin Sanneh | Coup failure |
16 September 2015 | Burkina Faso | 2015 Burkina Faso coup d'état attempt
|
Michel Kafando | Gilbert Diendéré | Coup failure |
7 January 2019 | Gabon | 2019 Gabonese coup attempt | Ali Bongo Ondimba
|
Kelly Ondo Obiang | Coup failure |
11 April 2019 | Sudan | 2019 Sudanese coup d'état | Omar al-Bashir | Coup successful | |
18 August 2020 | Mali | 2020 Malian coup d'état | Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta | Coup successful | |
31 March 2021 | Niger | 2021 Nigerien coup d'état attempt
|
Mohamed Bazoum | Sani Saley Gourouza | Coup failure |
20 April 2021 | Chad | Death of Idriss Déby | Vacant | Mahamat Déby | Mahamat Déby takes office as leader of a military junta. Regarded as a coup by regional opposition. |
24 May 2021 | Mali | 2021 Malian coup d'état | Bah Ndaw | Assimi Goïta | Coup successful |
5 September 2021 | Guinea | 2021 Guinean coup d'état | Alpha Condé | Mamady Doumbouya | Coup successful |
25 October 2021 | Sudan | 2021 Sudanese coup d'état | Abdalla Hamdok |
|
Coup successful |
23 January 2022 | Burkina Faso | January 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état | Roch Marc Christian Kaboré | Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba | Coup successful |
30 September 2022 | September 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'état | Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba | Ibrahim Traoré | Coup successful | |
15 April 2023 | Sudan | War in Sudan (2023–present)
|
Abdel Fattah al-Burhan | Hemedti | Inconclusive; led to civil war[27][28][29] |
26 July 2023 | Niger | 2023 Nigerien coup d'état | Mohamed Bazoum | Coup successful | |
31 July 2023 | Sierra Leone | 2023 Sierra Leone coup plot | Julius Maada Bio | Mohammed Yetey Turay | Coup failure |
30 August 2023 | Gabon | 2023 Gabonese coup d'état | Ali Bongo Ondimba | Brice Oligui
|
Coup successful |
26 September 2023 | Burkina Faso | 2023 Burkina Faso coup attempt | Ibrahim Traoré |
|
Coup failure |
26 November 2023 | Sierra Leone | 2023 Sierra Leone coup attempt | Julius Maada Bio | Dissident military officers, unidentified militants and prisoners | Coup failure |
1 December 2023 | Guinea-Bissau | 2023 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état attempt
|
Umaro Sissoco Embaló | Victor Tchongo | Coup failure |
20 May 2024 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 2024 Democratic Republic of the Congo coup attempt | Félix Tshisekedi | Christian Malanga | Coup failure |
Notelist
- ^ Gabon is only occasionally included in the grouping.
References
- ^ Guibal, Claude (15 August 2023). "Niger : en Afrique, la ceinture des coups d'État redessine la carte du continent". France Info. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
- ^ Mekki Elmograbi (7 September 2021). "Guinea Joins the African Club of the "Coup Belt"". BL News.
- ^ Suleiman, Muhammad Dan (24 September 2021). "Towards a Better Understanding of the Underlying Conditions of Coups in Africa". e-ir.info.com. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ "Africa's 'coup belt' facing further upheaval". Arab News. 2 February 2022.
- ^ Onuah, Felix (5 December 2022). "West African leaders plan peacekeeping force to counter 'coup belt' reputation". Reuters. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
- ^ Duzor, Megan; Williamson, Brian (2 February 2022). "By the Numbers: Coups in Africa". Voice of America. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- ^ Dyer, Gwynne (7 February 2022). "Opinion: The return of Africa's military 'Coup Belt'". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- ^ "After Two Coups, Mali Needs Regional Support to Bolster Democracy". United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
- ^ Duncan, Timothyna Afua (16 December 2021). "Why a coup in Guinea was felt around the world". CNBC. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
- ^ "Sudan's Coup: One Year Later". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
- ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
- ^ "Burkina Faso's coup and political situation: All you need to know". Al Jazeera. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
- ^ "Niger's Bazoum 'held by guards' in apparent coup attempt". Al Jazeera. 26 July 2023. Archived from the original on 27 July 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
- ^ Dixon, Gary (30 August 2023). "Gabon closes shipping down after post-election coup". TradeWinds. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ Mbulle-Nziege, Leonard; Cheeseman, Nic (6 August 2023). "Niger coup: Is France to blame for coups in West Africa?". BBC News. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
- ^ Ndiaga, Thiam (20 February 2023). "Burkina Faso marks official end of French military operations on its soil". Reuters. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
- ^ "Last French troops leave Mali, ending nine-year deployment". Al Jazeera. 16 August 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
- ^ "France to close Niger embassy after row with military junta". BBC. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
- ^ "ECOWAS suspends Mali over second coup in nine months". Al Jazeera. 31 May 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
- ^ Samb, Saliou; Eboh, Camillus; Inveen, Cooper (9 September 2021). Heritage, Timothy; Orlofsky, Steve; Pullin, Richard (eds.). "West African leaders due in Guinea as post-coup calm pervades Conakry". Reuters. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "West African leaders suspend Guinea from Ecowas following coup," September 9, 2021, BBC News, retrieved September 9, 2021
- ^ "Ecowas' dilemma: Balancing principles and pragmatism - The Nordic Africa Institute NAI Policy Note 2024:1". nai.uu.se. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^ Obangome, Gerauds Wilfried (30 August 2023). "Gabonese military officers announce on television they have seized power". Reuters. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ Picheta, Nima Elbagir,Jessie Yeung,Rob (17 April 2023). "Sudan military leader accuses rival of 'attempted coup' as vicious fighting grips capital". CNN. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Sudan's Junta Chief Survived the Coup, but Can He Win the War?". Political Violence at a Glance. 17 July 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2024.