Bénin recently became the latest addition to a growing roster of African nations where military officers have attempted to seize power since 2020. This particular military takeover, which unfolded on a recent Sunday, lasted for several hours before authorities announced its thwarting.
In a scenario that has become increasingly familiar across West Africa, a group of soldiers appeared on Bénin’s state television on Sunday, declaring the removal of President Patrice Talon and the dissolution of the government following a swift power grab.
However, within hours, Bénin’s Minister of Interior, Alassane Seidou, released an online video confirming that the coup attempt had been successfully foiled. Seidou clarified that the soldiers involved had “launched a mutiny with the aim of destabilizing the state and its institutions,” adding that the armed forces remained “committed to the Republic.”
This timeline outlines a series of significant military power shifts in Africa, often driven by disputed elections, constitutional upheaval, pressing security crises, and widespread youth discontent:
Mali: august 2020 and may 2021
Since August 2020, Mali has experienced two consecutive military takeovers. In the first instance, a group of soldiers mutinied and apprehended high-ranking military officials near Bamako, following weeks of civilian protests demanding the resignation of President Ibrahim Keïta, who faced accusations of corruption and an inability to counter armed groups.
Colonel Assimi Goïta, the military leader, initially forged a power-sharing agreement with civilian president Bah Ndaw, with Goïta assuming the role of vice-president in the transitional government. By 2021, Goïta ousted Ndaw after a series of disagreements, establishing himself as president. He subsequently postponed elections initially scheduled for 2022 until 2027.
Mali now forms part of a tripartite bloc of landlocked West African nations, alongside Burkina Faso and Niger, all currently under military rule. These juntas have formed their own alliance after withdrawing from ECOWAS, signaling a firm stance against a swift return to democratic governance.
Tchad: april 2021
Following the death of his father in 2021, army General Mahamat Idriss Déby swiftly assumed control, extending three decades of family rule in this Central African country.
Three years later, he organized the election he had promised upon taking power. Déby was declared the victor, a result the opposition condemned as rigged. Since then, he has intensified the crackdown on dissent. Former Prime Minister Succès Masra, a prominent opposition figure, received a 20-year prison sentence earlier this year.
Guinée: september 2021
After 11 years in office, Alpha Condé was overthrown by a contingent of soldiers led by Mamady Doumbouya. In 2020, Condé had controversially amended the Constitution to allow himself to pursue a third term.
Doumbouya is now a candidate for the December elections, seeking to shed his military uniform after a referendum this year authorized junta members to run for office and extended presidential terms from five to seven years.
Soudan: october 2021
The Sudanese army, under the command of General Abdel-Fattah Burhan, executed a coup in October 2021, removing Omar el-Béchir, who had governed the nation for 26 years.
Burhan subsequently entered into a power-sharing arrangement with Muhammad Dangalo, widely known as Hemetti, the head of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
By April 2023, a simmering rivalry between the two leaders erupted into what the United Nations has described as one of the world’s most catastrophic conflicts. The devastating war continues to rage.
Burkina Faso: january and september 2022
Much like its neighbor Mali, Burkina Faso has endured two successive coups. In January 2022, Roch Kaboré was deposed by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba. By September of the same year, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who commanded an artillery unit within the Burkinabè army, overthrew Damiba, citing the same justification as the previous coup: deteriorating security conditions.
Traoré has since governed the country. In July, he dissolved the independent electoral commission.
Niger: july 2023
General Abdourahamane Tchiani orchestrated the overthrow of Mohamed Bazoum, bringing an end to a rare democratic transition in Niger. This dramatic coup triggered a crisis within ECOWAS, which threatened military intervention if Bazoum was not reinstated and the country returned to democratic rule.
The crisis has fractured the region, with Niger aligning itself with Burkina Faso and Mali to form the Alliance of Sahel States.
Gabon: august 2023
Shortly after President Ali Bongo, who had been in power for 14 years and was seeking a third term, was declared the winner of the 2023 election, a group of soldiers appeared on television to announce their assumption of power. They nullified the election results and dissolved all state institutions.
Brice Oligui Nguema, a cousin of Bongo, seized control and has since led Gabon. He was declared the victor of the presidential election in April.
Madagascar: october 2025
Expressing their frustration over persistent water shortages and electricity outages, young people in Madagascar took to the streets to demand the resignation of former President Andry Rajoelina.
Instead, Rajoelina disbanded his government and refused to step down, leading to a military takeover in this Southern African nation.
Guinée-Bissau: november 2025
On November 26, soldiers in Guinée-Bissau seized power following a contested presidential election three days earlier. Critics, including the opposition, characterized the coup as a staged power grab designed to prevent the incumbent president’s defeat.
Both the outgoing President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and his main opponent, Fernando Dias, claimed victory in the November 23 election.
Embaló was subsequently released and permitted to flee to neighboring Sénégal, from where he has since departed. The new military junta proceeded with appointments, including several allies of the deposed president.
Bénin: december 2025
Less than two weeks after the coup in Guinée-Bissau, soldiers orchestrated a similar power seizure in Bénin after gunfire was reported near the presidential palace.
A group of soldiers, identifying themselves as the Military Committee for Refoundation, appeared on state television to announce that the country’s leader, Patrice Talon, had been removed and that state institutions were dissolved.
The soldiers appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Pascal Tigri as the president of the military committee.
However, within hours, officials announced that the coup had been thwarted by the armed forces and that the military remained “committed to the Republic.”