A sobering number of coups in Africa
What is a coup?
A coup d’etat can be defined as an illegal and overt attempt by the military – or by civilian officials – to unseat sitting leaders or disrupt a peaceful transition of power.
According to a recent study (see below), over 200 such attempts in Africa since the 1950s. About half of these have been successful.
13 successful coups took place in Africa in the first two decades of this century alone.
Senegal continues to stand as an exception. This West African nation has never experienced a coup since gaining independence in 1960.
- ECOWAS was close to a military intervention to restore the elected president in Niger.
- The new president in Gabon is said to be related to the disposed president.
- 2 successful coups in Burkina Faso.
- The coup attempts in Guinea Bissau, The Gambia and the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe failed.
- The coup in Chad was a so-called ‘dynastic coup’, in which the army installed the deceased president’s son as interim president, leading a transitional military council.
- Sudan has experienced 3 revolutions and 14 coups since the 1950s.
After a sharp uptick in African coups in 2022 and 2023 (mostly in the Sahel), it has been relatively quiet in Africa – until 26 November 2025 when Guinea-Bissau President was arrested.
2025: 1 coup – Guinea-Bissau (November)
Guinea-Bissau President was toppled by his own military aide. He is himself a former military officer who initially came to power in a contested election following a de facto military takeover.
2023: 2 coups – Niger (July) and Gabon (August).
2022: 5 coups
Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau, The Gambia and the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe.
2021: 6 coups
Chad, Mali, Guinea, Sudan and Niger.
2020: 1 coup – Mali
More research on the history of coups in Africa can be found in the this article on the BBC website.