From the withdrawal of French special forces from Burkina Faso to the general elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including Nigeria's Bola Tinubu's presidential victory, the coups in Niger and Gabon, and South Africa's victory at the Rugby World Cup, France 24 looks back at the highlights shaped the continent's news this year.
Final clap for French special forces in Burkina Faso
Flag raising ceremony to mark the conclusion of French Army operations in Burkina Faso, February 18, 2023. © General Staff of the Armed Forces of Burkina Faso, AFP
On February 19, the Burkinabé Army formalized the end of Task Force Saber's operations in the country during a ceremony at Camp Bila Zagré in Kamboincin, on the outskirts of Ouagadougou.
The withdrawal of about 400 soldiers from this special unit responsible for pursuing jihadist leaders in the Sahel comes a few weeks after the interim government canceled defense agreements between France and Burkina amid high tensions between the two countries.
Bola Tinubu was elected as the new President of Nigeria
Bola Tinubu after being declared the winner of the Nigerian presidential election at the party's campaign headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria on March 1, 2023. © Portal
He took over the leadership of Africa's largest economy. Former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu, 71, won the March 1 presidential election in Nigeria, a country of 219.4 million people, by far the most populous country on the continent.
President Muhammadu Buhari's successor won by a comfortable margin over his main rivals, who contested those results without winning their case. The priority issues include revitalizing a declining economy, combating insecurity and dealing with regional crises. In addition to his national mandate, Bola Tinubu took over the rotating presidency of the regional organization ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) for a year in July, thereby becoming the new face of West African diplomacy.
Fratricidal war in Sudan
The head of the Sudanese army, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (left), and the commander of the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces of Sudan, General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemedti). © AFP – Ashraf Shazly
On Saturday, April 15, a deadly war broke out in Sudan between the regular army and the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), a powerful government-aligned militia. A conflict that brings to light the estrangement between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, head of the junta and de facto head of state, and Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, known as “Hemedti”. His former ally now decided to take control of the country by force of arms.
Despite several attempts at mediation by the US, Saudi Arabia and even Kenya, fighting continues despite the announcement of successive ceasefires and the death toll is rising rapidly. The United Nations says more than 6,000 people have died since the conflict began, while the country faces the “worst displacement crisis in the world” and more than 7 million people have fled their homes.
Army takes power in coup in Niger
General Abdourahamane Tiani, Niger's new strongman, speaks on national television on July 28, 2023. © ORTN – Télé Sahel, AFP
Two years after the election of President Mohamed Bazoum, which marked the first democratic transition in Niger's history, the head of state was overthrown on July 26 in a military coup by members of the presidential guard. As head of the unit responsible for protecting the president, General Tiani justifies this seizure of power with “the deterioration of the security situation” in a Niger undermined by the violence of terrorist groups.
There is a standoff between the new authorities and the regional organization ECOWAS, which imposes heavy sanctions on the country and threatens military intervention to restore constitutional order. At the same time, tensions are heating up with France, the ousted president's close ally, which announced the withdrawal of 1,500 French troops at the end of September. President Bazoum, who has always refused to step down, remains secluded in his presidential residence with his wife and son.
Death of former Ivorian President Henri Konan Bédié
Former Ivorian President Henri Konan Bédié at the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast in Abidjan, March 30, 2023. © Sia Kambou, AFP
Ivory Coast lost on Tuesday August 1st one of its most famous political figures: former President Henri Konan Bédié, who died at the age of 89 in a private hospital in Abidjan.
The head of state from 1993 to 1999, Henri Konan Bédié, who wanted to become heir and successor to the first Ivorian president Houphouët-Boigny, was particularly known for his criticized concept of “Ivoirité”, which, according to many observers, contributed to the rise in tensions during the decade of armed crisis that ended with the violence of 2010-2011 in which 3,000 people died.
Henri Konan Bédié, a former opponent of current President Alassane Ouattara, supported him in the second round of the 2010 presidential election and then in his re-election in 2016. Nicknamed “Sphinx” or “HKB”, Henri Konan Bédié returned to the fold since 2018 Opposition, where he became close to Laurent Gbagbo's supporters. He had not ruled out running in the next presidential election in Ivory Coast in 2025.
In Gabon, Ali Bongo is overthrown in a military coup
Under house arrest, ousted Gabonese President Ali Bongo calls on “his friends around the world to make noise” to support him in a video dated August 30, 2023. © AFP
Just hours after President Ali Bongo was re-elected to a third term, Gabonese soldiers and police announced on Wednesday, August 30, the annulment of the vote, the dissolution of “all institutions of the Republic” and the “end of the regime.” .
The head of state, considered the winner with 64.27% of the vote but whose victory is contested by the military, will therefore be “retired” by his own cousin, General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, head of the Republican Guard.
Five days later he was sworn in as interim president and promised to organize elections. Several close friends of the former regime, including one of Ali Bongo's sons, are charged with corruption and imprisoned. Former Gabonese First Lady, Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin, is placed under house arrest for “money laundering.”
First African climate summit
Kenyan President William Ruto surrounded by African leaders at the African Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 6, 2023. © Simon Maina, AFP
This is the first continent-wide climate summit. From September 4th to 6th, African leaders met in Kenya to agree on a common position on developing “green growth” and combating global warming.
The “Nairobi Declaration,” adopted at the end of the meeting by the 54 countries participating in the event, calls for “increasing renewable energy production capacity in Africa,” establishing a “new financing architecture,” including “debt restructuring and debt relief.” and a “carbon tax system”.
This event took place almost a year after COP27 in Egypt, the first ever UN climate conference on the African continent. It has raised $23 billion in commitments for renewable energy investments, Kenyan President William Ruto said.
Earthquake in Morocco and deadly floods in Libya
Relief operations in the village of N'Tala, Morocco, September 13, 2023 and in the city of Derna, Libya, September 18, 2023. © Graphic Studio France 24
At the beginning of September, two major natural disasters shook the north of the continent and triggered an international shock wave. On the night of Friday 8th to Saturday 9th, a strong earthquake of magnitude 6.9 shook western Morocco. This earthquake, the strongest ever recorded in the kingdom, struck in Al-Haouz province in the High Atlas region of central Morocco, about 70 km southwest of Marrakesh, killing nearly 3,000 people and injuring more than 6,000 people.
On September 10, the city of Derna in northeastern Libya was hit by devastating floods caused by the breach of two dams during Storm Daniel. A disaster in which, according to authorities, 4,000 people died and around 10,000 were missing.
South Africa wins the Rugby World Cup
South African captain Siya Kolisi is lifting the World Cup title after narrowly winning the final against the All Blacks (12-11) at the Stade de France on October 28th. © Franck Fife, AFP
And four! South Africa retained their title as Rugby World Champions by defeating New Zealand (12-11) in the 2023 World Cup final on Saturday 28 October at the Stade de France.
This is the Springboks' second consecutive win in France and fourth overall, a record. This new victory caused great enthusiasm in South Africa and especially in Johannesburg, where the airport was stormed by thousands of fans who came to celebrate the return of the champion.
Recapture of Kidal by the Malian army
Aerial view of Kidal city, August 27, 2022. © Souleymane Ag Anara, AFP
In mid-November, the Malian army announced the recapture of Kidal, a town in northern Mali that had been controlled by predominantly Tuareg armed groups for more than a decade. For the military authorities, in power since the August 2020 coup, this victory is a crucial step in the reconquest of the territory, which they have made an absolute priority.
In terms of security, the situation in the center and north of the country, which is repeatedly hit by terrorist attacks, remains very tense. Since the recapture of Kidal, several attacks by Jnim linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (EIGS) have been reported again in the cities of Labbezagan, Gossi, Tessalit and Menaka.
In Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi wins third term
Passersby photographed in front of a giant billboard of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi that reads “Long live Egypt” in Arabic, January 27, 2022 in Cairo. © Amr Nabil, AP (archive)
It was a vote without tension. On December 18, Egypt's electoral authority declared the victory of outgoing President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi with 89.6% of the vote in the December 10 presidential election.
After coming to power in 2013 by overthrowing the Islamist Mohamed Morsi, the marshal and later president has ruled the country with an iron fist ever since. With the country in the throes of a severe economic crisis, he ran against three opposition candidates who are little known to the general public in this election, which was primarily about purchasing power.
Parliamentary elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Election officials and party representatives count and verify ballots at an office in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Thursday, December 21, 2023. © Mosa'ab Elshamy, AP
On December 20, almost 44 million voters – out of the country's approximately 100 million inhabitants – went to the polls in the Democratic Republic of Congo to elect their president, but also their national and regional representatives and their local councils. Outgoing President Félix Tshisekedi is seeking re-election for a second term despite the opposition splintering in a single round of voting in a very tense political and security climate.
The election was marked by numerous delays in this vast country, the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, where the delivery of voting materials posed a major challenge. Quadruple voting was eventually officially extended by a day in several offices that were unable to open on D-Day because of logistical problems, and continued in certain remote areas until Christmas.