African political history in the 2020s
The history of Africa in the 2020s covers political events on the continent, other than elections, from 2020 onwards.
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International events in Africa.
Major drought in Southern Africa.
In 2024, a drought and subsequent food shortages in Southern Africa threatened to become a major humanitarian catastrophe, according to warnings by the United Nations.
History by country.
Algeria.
In July 2021, Amnesty International and Forbidden Stories reported, that Morocco had targeted more than 6,000 Algerian phones, including those of politicians and high-ranking military officials, with the Pegasus spyware. In August 2021, Algeria blamed Morocco and Israel of supporting the Movement for the self-determination of Kabylia, which the Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune accused of being involved in the wildfires in northern Algeria. Tebboune accused Morocco for perpetrating hostile acts. In the same month, King Mohammed VI of Morocco reached out for reconciliation with Algeria and offered assistance in Algeria's battle against the fires. Algeria did not respond to the offer.
On 18 August 2021, Tebboune chaired an extraordinary meeting of the High Security Council to review Algeria's relations to Morocco. The president ordered an intensification of security controls at the borders. On 24 August 2021, Algerian foreign minister Ramtane Lamamra announced the break of diplomatic relations with Morocco. On 27 August 2021, Morocco closed the country's embassy in Algiers, Algeria. Furthermore, on 22 September 2021, Algeria's Supreme Security Council determined to close its airspace to all Moroccan civilian and military aircraft.
Chad.
Presidential elections were held in Chad on 11 April 2021. Incumbent Idriss Déby, who served five consecutive terms since seizing power in the 1990 coup d'état, was running for a sixth. Déby was described as an authoritarian by several international media sources, and as "strongly entrenched". During previous elections, he forbade the citizens of Chad from making posts online, and while Chad's total ban on social media use was lifted in 2019, restrictions continue to exist.
Provisional results released on April 19 showed that incumbent president Idriss Déby won reelection with 79% of the vote. However, on 20 April it was announced by the military that Déby had been killed in action while leading his country's troops in a battle against rebels calling themselves the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT).
Following president Déby's death, a body called the Transitional Military Council – led by his son Mahamat Déby Itno, dissolved the government and the legislature, and proclaimed that it would be assuming power for a period of 18 months. Thereafter, a new presidential election would be held. Some political actors within Chad have labeled the installing of the transitional military government a "coup", as the constitutional provisions regarding the filling of a presidential vacancy were not followed. Namely, according to the constitution, the President of the National Assembly, Haroun Kabadi, should have been named Acting President after Déby's death, and an early election called within a period of no less than 45 and no more than 90 days from the time of the vacancy.
Democratic Republic of Congo.
Thirty-two members of the Parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo died of COVID-19.
Eswatini.
The Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini died of COVID-19 in 2020.
A series of protests in Eswatini against the monarchy and for democratisation began in late June 2021. Starting as a peaceful protest on 20 June, they escalated after 25 June into violence and looting over the weekend as the government took a hardline stance against the demonstrations and prohibited the delivery of petitions.
Ethiopia.
Tensions began to rise again between Ethiopia and Eritrea, after several years of efforts to negotiate peace, due to possible border disputes.
After having won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government adopted some policies which raised some concerns about political developments in Ethiopia. Abiy dissolved the governing coalition and formed a new party, the Prosperity Party; some said the imposition of a brand-new political party was detrimental to political stability. Also, the government enacted some restrictions on some forms of expression which raised concern about standards of free speech. Abiy's response to rebel groups has raised some concerns about undue harshness, although some others allege that he was originally too lenient. Amnesty International raised concerns about the status of one opposition leader. Abiy encouraged Ethiopian refugees to return home, due to improving conditions.
On November 4, 2020, the Ethiopian National Defense Force launched a civil war against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in the Tigray Region, which it claimed was in response to an attack on its troops. This followed month of feuding between the central and regional governments over elections and funding. The Tigray forces launched rockets at the airport of Asmara, capital of neighbouring Eritrea, claiming that forces from there had taken part in the offensive. Amnesty International reported that a massacre had taken place in Tigray, with TPLF-affiliated forces claimed to be responsible.
Concurrently, there was also another conflict ongoing in the Oromia Region, as well as also ongoing Afar–Somali clashes between the Afar and Somali Regions of Ethiopia. In October 2020, 27 people were killed. On 2 April 2021, 100 cattle herders were reportedly shot dead. On July 24, 2021, clashes erupted in the town of Garbaiisa, the clashes killing 300 were followed by massive protests in the Somali region resulting in the only road and rail line that goes into Djibouti where 95% of Ethiopia's maritime trade goes though.
Gabon.
On 30 August 2023, a coup d'état occurred in the Gabonese Republic shortly after the announcement that incumbent president Ali Bongo Ondimba had won the general election held on 26 August. Following presidential elections held on 26 August 2023, the incumbent president, Ali Bongo, who had been seeking re-election for a third term, was declared the winner according to an official announcement made on 30 August. However, allegations of electoral fraud and irregularities immediately emerged from opposition parties and independent observers, casting doubt over the legitimacy of the election results. Amidst growing scrutiny and widespread protests over the conduct of the elections, the Armed Forces of Gabon launched a pre-dawn coup on 30 August. Soldiers led by high-ranking officers seized control of key government buildings, communication channels, and strategic points within the capital Libreville. Gunfire was also heard in the city.
Guinea.
In 2020, President of Guinea Alpha Condé changed the constitution by referendum to allow himself to secure a third term, a controversial change which spurred the 2019–2020 Guinean protests. During the last year of the second term and his third term, Condé cracked down on protests and on opposition candidates, some of whom died in prison, while the government struggled to contain price increases in basic commodities. On 5 September 2021, Condé was captured by the country's armed forces in a coup d'état after gunfire in the capital, Conakry. Special forces commander Mamady Doumbouya released a broadcast on state television announcing the dissolution of the constitution and government.
Guinea-Bissau.
A coup d'état was attempted in Guinea-Bissau on 1 February 2022. A few hours later, president Umaro Sissoco Embaló declared the coup over, he said that "many" members of the security forces had been killed in a "failed attack against democracy."
Kenya.
The Camp Simba attack by Al-Shabaab in January 2020 killed three Americans.
Lesotho.
On 10 January 2020, an arrest warrant was issued for First Lady Maesiah Thabane, who was wanted in connection with the 2017 murder of Lipolelo Thabane. Maesaih Thabane went into hiding and Prime Minister Tom Thabane announced his intent to resign from office shortly after her arrest warrant was issued. On 20 February 2020, police announced that Thabane would also be charged with murder in the case.
New developments.
A conference between representatives of Mediterranean Basin powers implicated in the Libyan armed conflict as well as Algeria, the Republic of Congo and major world powers took place in Berlin on 19 January 2020, declaring a 55-point list of "Conclusions", creating a military 5+5 GNA+LNA followup committee, and an "International Follow-up Committee" to monitor progress in the peace process. In the intra-Libyan component of the 3-point process, the economic track was launched on 6 January 2020 in a meeting in Tunis between a diverse selection of 19 Libyan economic experts. The military track of the intra-Libyan negotiations started on 3 February with the "5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission" meeting in Geneva, between 5 senior military officers selected by the GNA and 5 selected by the LNA leader Khalifa Haftar. A major aim was to negotiate detailed monitoring to strengthen the 12 January ceasefire. The intra-Libyan political track was started on 26 February 2020 in Geneva. Salamé resigned from his UNSMIL position in early March 2020.
A 21 August 2020 announcement by GNA leader Fayez al-Sarraj and Aguila Saleh for the LNA declared a ceasefire, lifting of the oil blockade, the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections in March 2021, and a new joint presidential council to be guarded by a joint security force in Sirte. Followup meetings took place in Montreux on 7–9 September with support from UNSMIL and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and, between five GNA and five House of Representatives (HoR) members on 11 September, in Bouznika. Both meetings appeared to achieve consensus.
The three-track intra-Libyan negotiations, chaired by Stephanie Williams of UNSMIL, continued following the August ceasefire and September Montreux meeting, with the political track evolving into the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, and the military track leading to a 24 October 2020 agreement on a permanent ceasefire.
Malawi.
The Constitutional Court ordered a re-run of the 2019 Malawian general election following “widespread, systematic and grave” problems with the process, leading to the 2020 Malawian presidential election.
Mali.
On 18 August 2020, elements of the Malian Armed Forces began a coup. Soldiers on pick-up trucks stormed the Soundiata military base in the town of Kati, where gunfire was exchanged before weapons were distributed from the armory and senior officers arrested. Tanks and armoured vehicles were seen on the town's streets, as well as military trucks heading for the capital, Bamako. The soldiers detained several government officials including the President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta who resigned and dissolved the government.
The 2021 Malian coup d'état began on the night of 24 May 2021 when the Malian Army led by Vice President Assimi Goïta captured President Bah N'daw, Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and Minister of Defence Souleymane Doucouré. Assimi Goïta, the head of the junta that led the 2020 coup d'état, announced that N'daw and Ouane were stripped of their powers and that new elections would be held in 2022. It is the country's third coup d'état in ten years, following the 2012 and 2020 military takeovers with the latter only having happened nine months earlier. The African Union suspended the country's membership in response. On July 20, a knifeman wounded President Goïta in the arm at a mosque in Bamako in an attack described as an assassination attempt.
Morocco.
In November 2020, the Polisario Front declared it had broken a 30-year truce and attacked Moroccan forces in Western Sahara as part of the Western Sahara conflict.
Mozambique.
The insurgency in Cabo Delgado intensified with events such as the 2020 Mozambique attacks, the Mocímboa da Praia offensive in 2020 and the Battle of Palma in 2021.
Niger.
The 2021 Nigerien coup attempt occurred on 31 March 2021 at around 3:00 am WAT (2:00 am UTC) after gunfire erupted in the streets of Niamey, the capital of Niger, two days before the inauguration of president-elect Mohamed Bazoum. The coup attempt was staged by elements within the military, and was attributed to an Air Force unit based in the area of the Niamey Airport. The alleged leader of the plot was Captain Sani Saley Gourouza, who was in charge of security at the unit's base. After the coup attempt was foiled, the perpetrators were arrested.
Nigeria.
The End SARS movement protested the abuses committed by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, but were met with violence which killed at least 12 people.
Somalia.
On 14 April 2021, acting President Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed signed a law which extended his mandate by two years. This was opposed by opposition leaders which called it "a threat to the stability, peace and unity" and by the international community. On 25 April 2021, soldiers - mainly from Hirshabelle - entered Mogadishu in response. Rebels seized northern part of the city clashing with pro-government forces in some neighborhoods. Pro-government soldiers attacked homes of former Somali president and opposition leader. By the end of the day government forces withdrew towards Villa Somalia. On