The Latest Breaking News from Africa

A special broadcast on national television shows men in berets, body armour and fatigues. They gather around the podium. The announcement is brief: the armed forces are taking over. Gabon today, Niger last month. It’s the eighth coup in Francophone Africa in three years.

The European Union is growing increasingly concerned about “domino effects” as yet another military coup rocks Africa

Soldiers in Gabon popped up on television in the pre-dawn hours to announce they had overthrown President Ali Bongo, just one hour after election results in the dead of night gave him a third term in office. We ask about the latest developments and who's in charge in Libreville.

Strong desire for change – even if it comes wearing combat fatigues – is feeding Africa’s series of putsches

For any woman, pregnancy and giving birth are major life-changing experiences. Becoming a mother brings with it a range of emotions and, in many African cultures, positive emotions are centred when talking about motherhood.

In the 1950s and 1960s, young Africans were assisted financially by their governments to study in western countries in the hope they would return to contribute to nation building. Individuals who qualified abroad and returned home formed the educated elites of immediate post-independent Africa.

The president of Gabon, Ali Bongo Ondimba, knew well the threat of military coups in his part of the world

Nearly 6,000 years ago, our ancestors climbed arid rocky outcrops in what is now the Nigerian Sahara and carved spectacularly intricate, larger-than-life renditions of giraffes into the exposed sandstone. The remarkably detailed Dabous giraffe rock art petroglyphs are among many ancient petroglyphs featuring giraffes across Africa – a testament to…

Majority of the world’s coups in Africa with at least 106 coups across Africa since 1950 and 108 unsuccessful attempts.