Political Succession Via Military Coup d’etat in Africa: The Case of Niger

There is an interesting trajectory of a morphing and reincarnation of an old political culture of coups replacing kleptocratic and predatory governmental systems in Africa. The Brookings Institution highlighting that within a space of four years, seven countries, i.e. Chad, Mali, Sudan, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Gabon have fallen to military coups, prompting an uncomfortable but reasonable question, “which country is next?”. In the period the paper was compiled, four of the fifteen ECOWAS member states were under the leadership of unconstitutional governments. The paper aims to examine the phenomenon of political succession through coup d’état in Africa, with a specific focus on the case of Niger. The objective is to disinter the underlying dynamics associated with coup d’état, and their implications for democratic consolidation and stability in the Sahel region. The paper employed a qualitative approach to collect and analyse data. The approach enabled the researchers to gather in-depth insights into the drivers of coup d’état in Africa, specifically Niger, as well as engage in an exploration of contextual factors driving the phenomenon. By analysing the case of Niger, the paper underwrites the existing literature on political succession, coup d’état, and democratic governance in Africa. The paper established that coup d’état trends in Niger and the Sahel region are driven by intricately linked factors, that range from militarised politics, France’s neocolonial agenda and poor governance systems. The theoretical lens provides a new dimension to understand the causes and consequences of political transitions through coup d'état and potentially could help charter a comprehensive packaging of the crisis in Niger.