Why former French colonies in Africa are more

A bunch of troopers appeared on state tv in Benin on Sunday to declare that they had seized power- a acquainted scene taking part in in West Africa. 

Within hours, the president announced the coup had been foiled. Two weeks earlier, troopers seized energy in another West African nation, Guinea-Bissau, after a intently contested presidential election.

Since 2020, 9 international locations in Africa have skilled coups. Here is what to know about why some nations on the continent are susceptible to navy takeovers.

With a couple of exceptions, all the African international locations that have witnessed a coup in latest years share a commonality: they had been all colonized by a major European energy.

Former French colonies are more susceptible to coups

With the exception of Sudan, a former British colony, and Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese one, the coups in Africa in latest years have taken place in former French colonies.

Bakary Sambe, who heads the Senegal-based Timbuktu Institute, said the prevalence of coups in Francophone Africa largely could be explained by international locations’ political systems — closely influenced by France, with strong presidential powers — and financial dependence on France after independence.

“Add to this weak governance marked by corruption and the shortcoming to handle jihadist threats in the Sahel, and you’ve got fertile ground for militaries positioning themselves as ‘saviors’,” Sambe said.

“Post-colonial Anglophone institutions, on the other hand, influenced by a more decentralized British model, have fostered more stable democratic transitions, with diversified economies and less external monetary control,” he added.

Ochieng said the role of the military in politics also differs between many former French colonies and former British ones.

“In many Anglophone African countries, the military, executive and judiciary are more clearly separated, and that separation of powers means that they coexist rather than overlapping in ways that blur authority or create confusion about who is in charge,” she said.

Growing grievances

The recent coups in Africa reflect deepening socioeconomic grievances, weakened institutions and frustrations with civilian governments’ handling of security crises, according to Beverly Ochieng, an analyst with the Control Risks Group consulting firm.

“In many West African countries, where militaries remain deeply involved in daily politics, crises such as insurgencies and sustained socioeconomic grievances often push soldiers to step in when they believe civilian leaders are failing to respond effectively,” Ochieng said.

It’s not just in West Africa. In October, navy leaders took energy on the southern African island of Madagascar following youth-led protests demanding President Andry Rajoelina’s resignation. He later fled the nation while the parliament voted for his impeachment.

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In 2023, troopers in the oil-rich central African nation of Gabon toppled longtime President Ali Bongo shortly after he was declared the election winner. Coup chief Brice Oligui Nguema, a cousin of Bongo, took energy and was announced the winner of a presidential election in April.

In Chad, following his father’s death in April 2021, military basic Mahamat Idris Deby seized energy, extending his household’s three-decade rule of the central African nation.

In September 2021, a group of troopers in Guinea led by Mamady Doumbouya eliminated President Alpha Conde, who had modified the structure to stand for a third time period. Doumbouya is working in the presidential election in December, after a referendum this yr allowed junta members to take part.

In Sudan, the navy, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, staged a coup in October 2021, deposing Omar al-Bashir, who had ruled for 26 years.

Military leaders have also taken energy by drive in Mali in 2020 and 2021, in Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger in 2023. The three international locations in the arid Sahel area have been plagued by extremist assaults, while pledging to present more security to residents.