See The Countries In Africa With The Highest Number Of Coups Since 1952

Sudan holds the record for the most coups and attempted takeovers, totaling 17, with six of them being successful.

In 2019, the country saw the removal of long-serving leader Omar al-Bashir following months of protests. Bashir himself had come to power in a military coup in 1989.

Burkina Faso, located in West Africa, has witnessed the most successful coups, with nine successful takeovers and one failed coup.

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Nigeria gained a reputation for military coups following its independence, experiencing eight of them between January 1966 and the takeover by Gen Sani Abacha in 1993. However, since 1999, power transfers in Africa’s most populous nation have occurred through democratic elections.

Burundi’s history has been marked by eleven separate coups, largely driven by tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi communities.

Sierra Leone went through three coups between 1967 and 1968 and another one in 1971. From 1992 to 1997, the country faced five additional coup attempts.

Ghana has also faced its share of military coups, with eight occurring in just two decades. The first took place in 1966, resulting in the removal of Kwame Nkrumah from power, and in the following year, there was an unsuccessful coup attempt by junior army officers.

In 2021, UN Secretary-General António Guterres observed that “military coups are back,” emphasizing that “geo-political divisions are undermining international co-operation, and…a sense of impunity is taking hold.”

Overall, Africa has experienced more coups than any other continent. Of the 18 coups recorded globally since 2017, all but one occurred in Africa, with Myanmar being the sole exception in 2021.