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Counting the cost of contagion fears from Africa coups

Counting the cost of contagion fears from Africa coups

WHEN Gabon's General Brice Oligui Nguema ousted his distant cousin last month, he became the eighth military leader who has taken power by force in Africa since 2020. But one aspect about the country was different: it had sold a sizeable amount of bonds on international capital markets and had just weeks prior sealed continental Africa's first debt-for-nature swap. The putsch not only sent Gabon's bonds tumbling 10% but also hit those issued by a number of other countries including neighbouring Cameroon, as jittery investors scanned for who might be next. The apparent coup trend is adding to other major concerns deterring many investors…
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Chad foils possible coup

Chad foils possible coup

CHADIAN security forces have foiled an attempt by a group of army officers to destabilize the country and undermine constitutional order, the government said in a statement. "This plan was devised by a restricted group of conspirators composed of 11 army officers," the statement said. At their head was Baradine Berdei Targuio, president of the Chadian Human Rights Organisation, it said. Reuters was unable to reach Targuio, who is in prison. Security services have been arresting people linked to the plot since Dec. 8 and have seized military equipment, the statement said. Chad has been on edge since the battlefield…
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West Africa has experienced a wave of coups – superficial democracy is to blame

West Africa has experienced a wave of coups – superficial democracy is to blame

WEST Africa has seen coups and military takeovers in three countries in 2022. Like those of the past, they came with promises of a quick return to civilian regimes once socio-economic and political challenges had been met. The challenges are usually listed as inept governance, corruption, rising insecurity and popular revolts amid economic hardship. One view of governance on the African continent is that liberal democracy has spread since the 2000s, bringing an end to dictatorships. Most African countries, it’s argued, have multiparty democracies with elected governments. Author TEMITOPE J. LANIRAN, Research Associate, University of Bradford My own view is…
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“Disease” of Mali coup needs stamping out, say neighbours

“Disease” of Mali coup needs stamping out, say neighbours

MALI’S West African neighbours believe that sanctions they imposed over a coup there were needed to stamp out the "disease" of military takeovers, and that the officers who engineered the power grab should return to barracks. The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) suspended Mali from its institutions, shut borders and halted financial flows with the country following last week's ousting of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Concerned about prolonged instability in Mali and its potential to undermine the fight against Islamist militants there and in the wider Sahel region, ECOWAS maintained that hard line on Friday. "Putschism" was…
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U.N. team meets detained Mali president as coup supporters plan to rally

U.N. team meets detained Mali president as coup supporters plan to rally

U.N. human rights officials have met overnight with Mali's ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and other officials who have been held by mutineers since a military coup earlier this week, the U.N. mission there has announced.  There has been no word from Keita since Tuesday, when he dissolved parliament and then resigned after being detained at gunpoint, deepening the crisis facing a country struggling to fend off an insurgency by Islamist militants. The human rights team was given access to Keita and other detainees, the U.N. peacekeeping mission, known as MINUSMA, said on Twitter. It provided no details on what…
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Regional leaders’ attempt to reverse Mali coup as junta, opposition close ranks

Regional leaders’ attempt to reverse Mali coup as junta, opposition close ranks

TIEMOKO DIALLO and DAVID LEWIS WEST African countries will send a delegation to Mali in an effort to reverse a military coup, presidents from the region said, as an opposition coalition there joined the junta in rejecting foreign interference. Leaders of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) convened over the crisis on Thursday, after it suspended Mali, shut off borders and halted financial flows in response to Tuesday's overthrow of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The coup, which has rocked a country already in the grip of a growing insurgency by Islamist militants and civil unrest, has been…
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Mali president Keita vowed to end coups. Now he’s been toppled too

Mali president Keita vowed to end coups. Now he’s been toppled too

AARON ROSS  A month after becoming president of Mali in 2013, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita declared that the days of mutinous soldiers undermining the power of government in the capital Bamako were over. "Kati will no longer scare Bamako," he said, referring to the Kati military base outside the capital where a mutiny the previous year had toppled then-President Amadou Toumani Toure. Seven years later, Keita, 75, has suffered a similar fate. He was overthrown on Tuesday by a military coup that began with a mutiny in Kati. Within hours, the putschists, firing shots in the air, drove into town, detained…
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