Limits of Changes in Military Commands and International Sanctions in Ending African Coups

The report of a coup in the Republic of Gabon at the end of August 2023 increased the reality of neighbourhood effects of military coups in sub-Saharan Africa, especially the Sahel, since the last three years when there have been at least ten military coups in the continent, and most of them were successful. Presently, the northern flank of the Nigerian map to the Sahel is fully bordered by new military regimes in countries that include Mali, Chad, Niger, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Guinea. The latest among the coups is the one of Gabon in the Central African region, in which an army officer who is a cousin of President Ali Bongo removed him from power. While removing these regimes offers momentary excitement, the uniformed dictators are unlikely to offer better alternatives in the medium and long term. Besides, external political responses to the coups, such as political and economic sanctions, would only worsen the conditions of ordinary citizens living in prolonged abjection in those countries due to bad governance. 

Hence, in this edition of Nextier SPD Policy Weekly, we engage the coups in Africa, preemptive acts of military reshuffle and the reactive diplomacies to restore elective rule side by side with the main drivers of the recent military coups in Africa.

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