As African nations gained independence In the 1960s, the continent was swept by a wave of coups. The first leaders to be overthrown were Sylvanus Olympio of Togo in 1963 and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana in 1966. These coups were carried out by military officers trained by former colonial powers, immediately prompting suspicions of foreign involvement. Olympio’s ousting was linked to French influence, while Nkrumah’s fall was widely associated with an operation by Western intelligence agencies. Similar upheavals soon followed in Congo, Nigeria, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Algeria, and Uganda.
However, in recent years, coups have begun to receive unexpected support from local populations, as seen in Gabon, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. This shift stems from mounting public frustration over corruption, sham elections, and manipulative governments. The sentiment is especially strong in former French colonies in the Sahel, where many view these coups as acts of resistance against neo-colonialism.
