A Renewed Wave of Coups in Africa?

The coup d'état in Niger, where General Abdourahmane Tiani seized power on July 26, has taken place against a backdrop of renewed political instability on the African continent - particularly in the Sahel region. After a period of relative calm between 2013 and 2020, 13 attempted coups have been carried out in Africa, including in Sudan, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mali.

As the following chart shows, between January 1950 and July 2023, there were some 220 successful and attempted coups in Africa, representing almost half (44 percent) of all attempted coups worldwide. Including failed attempts, Sudan tops the list of African countries that have seen the most coups d'état since 1950 with 17 altogether. After Sudan, Burundi (11), Ghana and Sierra Leone (10) are the countries with the most attempted coups since the middle of the 20th century.