Africa has yet again become subject to a military coup after Niger's presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum on Wednesday.
On Monday, political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi warned that the re-emergence of coup d'états led by the military is contagious.
He noted that they have happened before and led to ripple effects, further warning that the current trend may be a sign of the return of the Cold War.
"Dear Africans. Military coups are contagious. What is happening in Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and Sudan happened in the 1960s. Then it spread," he said.
"It is the last frontier of decolonisation. The Cold War is back. The Theatre of war in Africa and its resources."
A Cold War is a state of conflict and tension between nations or power blocs that are pursued through political actions and economic, espionage or proxy wars by third parties.
On July 26, Niger became the latest country to successfully overthrow its government.
Following the detention of Bazoum, presidential guard commander general Abdourahamane Tchiani proclaimed himself the leader of a new military junta.
The last time the West African country had a military coup was in 2010 being the fourth since it gained independence from France in 1960.
This is the fifth military coup.
In March 2021, the country attempted a coup when military dissenters tried to seize the presidential palace two days before the inauguration of Bazoum.
In the same year, Guinea (September 5, 2021), Mali (May 24) and Sudan (October 25) also had coups with Burkina Faso having two coups in January 23 and September 30, 2022.
This resulted to the region being called a "coup belt".
Following the September coup in Guinea, military officer Mamady Doumbouya was sworn in as interim president on October 1, 2021.
Doumbouya had led the overthrowing of former President Alpha Condé.
In Mali, the 2021 coup followed a military coup in 2020 and 2021.
On the other hand, Sudan has perpetually had wars since its independence in 1956. The most recent begun on April 15, 2023, and is still ongoing.
The warring sides are the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by Mohamed Hamdan "Hemedti" Dagalo.
The UN estimates that nearly 1.5 million people have been forced from their homes since the fighting began, many of them crossing to neighbouring countries.
