By Sylvestre Kouakou
In 2023, a coup overthrew the government in Niger, followed shortly thereafter by a coup in Gabon: an indication of the fragile security situation in many African countries, which is also being discussed in Western media. Reports from Africa correspondents of selected German-language media outlets and news magazines provide insight into the international community’s reactions to both coups.
Several African countries have experienced coups in recent years.
The terms “state fragility” and “civil war” indicate that security has collapsed in several African countries (Glawion 2020). Various coups d’état, for example in Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, and Burkina Faso, are examples of this collapse. In July 2023, a coup d’état took place in Niger, followed by a coup in Gabon in August 2023.
The coup in Niger on July 26, 2023, ended the democratically elected government of Nigerian President Mohammed Bazoum and placed him under house arrest. The coup leaders under Abdourahmane Tchiani justified their action with the security situation and the economic situation. They received the support of the army, which allegedly wanted to prevent bloodshed. There had already been an attempted coup in 2021, shortly before Bazoum took office, but it was foiled.
About a month later, on August 30, 2023, the Bongo dynasty in Gabon came to an end. It had ruled the country since 1967, for 56 years. Shortly after Ali Bongo’s re-election, the army announced that it had overthrown him. As the Bongos’ rule had been authoritarian, the election results were considered illegitimate. The coup was celebrated by parts of the population in Gabon, especially younger generations hoping for better living conditions.
This chain of coups and the “collapse of security” in several African countries has not gone unnoticed: reporters are covering these issues and highlighting problems. This article examines the reporting of German correspondents on the 2023 coups in Niger and Gabon in order to assess the coverage and the international community’s response to the coups.
To this end, reports by Africa correspondents from Der Spiegel, FAZ, Die Zeit, NZZ, and Tageszeitung, some of Germany’s best-known and most popular news magazines, were selected.
Coverage of the coup in Niger
The removal of the democratically elected president in Niger triggered a wide range of reactions almost everywhere in the world, both among the civilian population and among the political elites.
The Tageszeitung reported on July 28, 2023, that the United Nations no longer wanted to provide humanitarian aid to Niger after the violent takeover by Tchiani, the head of the presidential guard. The Spiegel editorial team echoed this sentiment on August 22, 2023: “The African Union has long refrained from commenting on the coup in Niger – now the alliance is excluding the country in order not to lend legitimacy to the regime.” The Tageszeitung also reported on July 30, 2023, that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) wanted to impose sanctions on Niger by isolating the country and possibly intervening militarily to restore the democratically elected president to power. France welcomed this statement by ECOWAS.
Following the example of the African Union, ECOWAS, France, and the United Nations, Germany did not want to send any more German taxpayers’ money to the coup leaders and froze development aid, according to the FAZ.
The FAZ reported on August 2, 2023, that the M62, a political movement in Niger that emerged from the resistance against the French military presence in the country, had responded to these statements with a declaration for Russia and against France. The NZZ reported on September 4, 2023, that many people in the Sahel region saw the West as “the bad guys” and Russia as “the good guys.”
Algeria spoke out against possible military intervention by ECOWAS in Niger. On August 19, 2023, the editorial staff of Der Spiegel also showed that Burkina Faso and Mali were on Niger’s side.
As a result of these controversial reactions, ECOWAS wanted to use “all diplomatic channels” and consider military action as a last resort, as confirmed by reports in the FAZ on August 10, 2023.
The military power in Niger also demanded the resignation of the French ambassador in Niamey. The NZZ considers this demand to be a hopeless situation for France in Niger. This would be followed by the withdrawal of the French ambassador along with French troops. This was seen as a loss for France, with Die Zeit describing it as a “painful farewell to Françafrique.”
Furthermore, Der Spiegel claimed on August 17, 2023, that “Niger was one of the EU’s most important partners in the Sahel region – in the fight against terrorism and migration to Europe. Now the government has been overthrown in a coup: Will the refugees return?” Niger’s democratic government had been a reliable partner of the West, financed by the EU. The question reflects the considerable uncertainty in the Sahel region, which could be exacerbated by this coup.
Reporting on the coup in Gabon
The coup in Gabon was followed by a wave of condemnation from many countries and organizations. For example, Zeit-Online pointed out on August 31, 2023, that the African Union not only condemned the coup, but also suspended Gabon from the union until further notice. As for Paris, Die Zeit reported on September 7, 2023, that the French government also condemned the coup and at the same time called for the election results to be respected.
The newspaper also reported on September 7, 2023, that the new rulers in Gabon “cannot meet the enormous expectations of their compatriots for peace, jobs, infrastructure, and an end to corruption. At least not quickly and comprehensively enough.“ The correspondent for Die Zeit shared the view that ”the coup leaders want to exploit the false notion of France as the scapegoat of Françafrique for the time being“ in order to distract their people’s attention from reality, because ”many young people believe in this misconception (…). They assume that the Grande Nation has power over their countries and their lives that it no longer has.“
On September 7, 2023, the FAZ described this support for the coup leaders by a large part of the youth as a ”lost faith in democracy.”
Against this backdrop, Der Spiegel pointed out on August 30, 2023, that Paris, which had close ties to long-time ruler Ali Bongo, needed to rethink its policy on the continent. The reason for this was that they would no longer make things as easy for France as the Bongo family, who had secured many raw materials from Gabon for France. On September 7, 2023, Die Zeit clarified the relationship between France and the country with the following statement by former President Omar Bongo: “Africa without France is like a car without a driver. France without Africa is like a car without gasoline.”
Assessment of the reporting on the two coups
Die Zeit emphasized on September 7, 2023: “France only takes offense at military governments when they act against French interests.” This view may explain why France is almost the only country among the many major powers to condemn the coup in Gabon, but also insists that the controversial election results in Gabon should be respected. Many other major powers almost exclusively condemned the coup. The African Union expelled Gabon from the union. Ali Bongo’s government had banned international media and election observers from the elections and blocked social media. This raised doubts about the announced election results, according to which Ali Bongo had won the elections with more than 63% of the vote. The coup took place just hours after the results of the presidential elections were announced.
With the exception of France, which would secure its raw material interests with Ali Bongo, no one is calling for the election results to be respected. No one is calling for Ali Bongo to be reinstated as president, even though, according to the Kronen Zeitung newspaper on August 30, 2023, Bongo called on all his friends worldwide to stand up for him on August 30, 2023. It is also noteworthy that almost no country is in favor of military intervention to restore Ali Bongo to power. This unanimous statement by the international community gives the impression that everyone had long hoped for the end of the Bongo family regime. France is the exception.
It is clear that the case of Gabon is very different from that of Niger. Almost everyone agrees that there was no reason for a coup in Niger. Unlike Ali Bongo in Gabon, whose family ruled the country for 56 years, Nigerian President Mohammed Bazoum was only sworn in on April 2, 2021, after a series of military governments.
In order to consolidate democracy in the West African country, almost all major Western powers, together with ECOWAS and the African Union, condemned the coup and demanded the release of the ousted president Mohammed Bazoum so that he could resume his office.
In addition, almost all Western powers supported another view, which Die Zeit drew attention to on August 7, 2023: Following the military coups in Burkina Faso and Mali, Niger is an important partner in the fight against terrorism in the Sahel region. The country is also important in regulating migration to Europe and, due to its uranium deposits, is a good partner for France. As Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel Regional Program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, emphasized, this coup could also exacerbate poverty in Niger, as the coup leaders would not be able to combat it.
The coup in Niger is also about a power struggle between the West and Russia. Reports in Die Zeit highlight the significance of the coup leaders: “For Russia, military cooperation with Niger would have special symbolic value – it would be a sign to the West that a country that was an important partner of the West just a week ago is now cooperating with Russia.” According to the reports, this is why Russia condemns military intervention by ECOWAS, even though the Russian government, through “Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, has called for the restoration of constitutional order.”
In contrast to Russia, almost all Western countries support military intervention to free the democratically elected President Bazoum and restore him to office. Algeria rejects this, along with former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo (VOA Afrique 2023). According to Gbagbo, ECOWAS should consider how to combat terrorism in the Sahel region instead of launching a military attack on the coup leaders, which would worsen the security situation in the Sahel.
Because of the goal of democratizing Niger and the agreements made with the ousted government to fight poverty, terrorism, and migration to the European Union, almost all Western countries are calling for the coup leaders to step down so that the democratically elected president Bazoum can take power again. ECOWAS, supported by the African Union and almost all Western countries, threatened the coup leaders in Niger with sanctions and possible military intervention to protect their own interests, their security, and to contain the wave of coups in Niger and throughout Africa.
This article was originally published in the Ajenda newsletter.