Coups, climate and cost of living: Key issues that shaped 2023 in Africa
Al Jazeera
It was a year full of high-stakes geopolitical drama and economic crises for Africa.
Lagos, Nigeria – Like 2022, 2023 was a year full of high-stakes geopolitical drama and economic crises that sometimes seemed like an escalation of existing issues of previous years.
New conflicts – internal and external – emerged and a series of flawed elections opened the door for the military to extend the trend of coups into another year.
The disruption in the supply chain brought about by the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine continued to bite. Climate disasters have become more acute. But in all these, African governments stepped up to chart their destinies, for good or bad.
As the year draws to a close, Al Jazeera looks at seven of the key issues that dominated the continent in 2023.
Declared worse than the 2011 famine, the drought in the Horn of Africa region entered its third year – and sixth consecutive season – of failed rainfall. According to data from the World Health Organization in August, 2.3 million people were displaced across the region due to the drought alone.
