COVID-19 Conflict & Resilience Monitor – 30 September 2021

The experience on the African continent in terms of managing diversity, and consolidating democracy has been fraught with stops and starts. Most recently, we have witnessed significant setbacks in terms of constitutional manipulation, for the purpose of extending terms of political office, military coups in specific West and Central African countries, and seemingly unending low intensity conflict and low-grade warfare in a number of countries. These are often connected to electoral processes.

Following the 5th September coup in Guinea, the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) issued condemnations of the action, followed by a suspension of Guinea from these organisations. The glaring problem being that the response of the AU and ECOWAS to the recent coups in Guinea and Mali can only be labelled as ‘template’ responses that fail to address the core issues that lead to these coups in the first place.

In less than 2 years, Africa witnessed three successful coups – a coup in Guinea and two coups in Mali. The recent developments, including the failed coup attempt in Sudan, have heightened global fears of democratic regression in Africa where coups were once adjudged “a thing of the past”.

Ahead of the 3rd Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum, challenges persist, yet opportunities for regional cooperation have never been stronger. For populations living in the Lake Chad Basin region, the global COVID-19 pandemic has only intensified the existing humanitarian and economic crisis, resulting in dire consequences for the most vulnerable and marginalized communities.