International | Afropopulism approaches

Africa’s coups are part of a far bigger crisis

Democracy is under threat from graft, stagnation and violence

Protesters hold hands during a rally against military rule in Khartoum, Sudan.
Image: Reuters
|CAPE TOWN AND DAKAR

FOR MANY years, coups in Africa seemed a thing of the past. But in the 2020s they are back with a vengeance: the nine this decade account for more than a third of successful African putsches this century. At this rate there will be more of them in the 2020s than in any decade since the 1960s.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “ Africa’s broken politics ”

From the October 7th 2023 edition

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