my-server
← Wiki

2020 in West Africa

The following lists events that happened during 2020 in West Africa.

January

February

  • The United Arab Emirates gives Mauritania US $2 billion in development aid.
  • February 3
  • Armed gunmen kill 18 civilians in Lamdamol, Sahel Region, Burkina Faso. A week earlier, 39 people were killed in Soum Province for a total of 110 civilian deaths this year.
  • A three-day workshop of the "Sahel Women's Empowerment and Demographic Dividend" (SWEDD) begins in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
  • February 4: US $300 million (£230 million) seized from former Nigerian president Sani Abacha's laundered accounts will be returned to Nigeria.
  • February 5
  • Mawlid (Birth of the Prophet)
  • The African Development Bank (AfDB) signs a US$81.7 million loan agreement with Ghana to finance roads and community development along the 695-kilometer Eastern Corridor Road.
  • The 2020 Sunhak Peace Prize is awarded to President Macky Sall of Senegal and Bishop Munib Younan, the International Honorary President of Religions for Peace.
  • February 6
  • International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): Voice of America reports that according to UNICEF, 97% of women in Guinea and 75% in Gambia, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Sierra Leone undergo (FGM).
  • Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials dismantle an “impossible to replace” kora belonging to Ballaké Sissoko of Mali during a security check-in New York. A note of apology written in Spanish was left in the case.
  • 5,000 African nationals from different countries cannot be evacuated from the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China because the countries do have the resources.
  • Ghana's government promotes cashew farming.
  • Liberia ends tariff on rice.
  • February 7
  • Liberia and the European Union (EU) sign a €3.5 million development agreement. They expect to sign agreements worth €42 million for rural electrification and €12 million for technical and vocational training soon.
  • February 14
  • Gunmen burn houses, steal livestock, and kill 21 people in Ogossagou, Mopti Region, Mali. 150 people were massacred in the same village a year ago.
  • International flights to Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, are diverted to Accra International Airport in Accra, Ghana, due to poor weather and complications with new equipment.
  • February 16 – Twenty-four civilians are killed and three are kidnapped near a Protestant church in Yagha Province, Burkina Faso.
  • February 17 – Twenty people are trampled to death during a stampede of Nigerian refugees waiting for food in Diffa, southeastern Niger.
  • February 19 – Umaro Sissoco Embola is scheduled to be inaugurated as president of Guinea Bissau
  • February 22 – 2020 Togolese presidential election. Incumbent President Faure Gnassingbe wins reelection with 72% of the vote.
  • February 24 – The United States shifts its military mission in Africa to training as American lawmakers oppose troop reductions.
  • February 28 – Nigeria confirms the first case of COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa.

March

  • March 12
  • Senegal reports 13 cases of COVID-19. Testing results are available in four hours (compared to a week in the U.S.), and scientists at Dakar's Pasteur Institute are working on a test that can produce results in ten minutes.
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: At least 18 African countries, including Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and COVID-19 pandemic in Togo report cases of COVID-19. Most are in single figures, and no deaths have been reported in Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • March 14
  • Canadian Edith Blais and Italian Luca Tacchetto, who were kidnapped in Burkina Faso in 2018, are released in Mali.
  • March 15
  • Senegal imposes travel restrictions, bans cruise ships, and closes schools for three weeks in response to the coronavirus. They also ban public gatherings for a month including Muslim and Christian pilgrimages.
  • Mauritania imposes travel restrictions and closes schools for three weeks in response to the coronavirus.
  • In a historic first, all Peace Corps volunteers worldwide are withdrawn from their host countries.
  • March 17 – The Niger Armed Forces say they have killed 50 members of Boko Haram in Toumour.
  • March 22 – 2020 Guinean legislative election and a constitutional referendum: Voters approve changes to extend the presidential term for twelve years.
  • March 24 – Between 50 and 75 Nigerian soldiers are ambushed and killed by Boko Haram in Goneri village, Yobe State, Nigeria.
  • March 26
  • Soumaila Cissé, the leader of the opposition in Mali, is kidnapped.
  • March 29 – The 2020 Malian parliamentary election, originally scheduled for November 25 and December 16, 2018, then moved to April 2019 and then to June 2019, is held on Sunday amid kidnappings and bombings; nine people are reported dead.
  • March 30 – Sierra Leone removes restrictions on pregnant girls who wish to go to school. Around 30% of girls in Sierra Leone become pregnant and 40% are married by the age of 18.

April

  • April 3 – Four soldiers and 63 jihadists are killed in fighting in the Tillabéri Region of Niger.
  • April 6 – Protesters in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, destroy a coronavirus center, saying it was too close to a residential area.
  • April 11 – Moussa Faki, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, invites the Chinese ambassador to the AU to discuss allegations of discrimination and mistreatment of hundreds of Africans in Guangzhou, southern China.
  • April 13
  • 14,000 cases of COVID-19 and 788 deaths have been reported across Africa. Cases by country: Benin – 35, Burkina Faso – 497, Cape Verde – 8, The Gambia – 9, Ghana – 566, Guinea – 250, Guinea-Bissau – 38, Ivory Coast – 574, Liberia – 50, Mali – 105, Mauritania – 7, Niger – 529, Nigeria- 323, Senegal – 280, Sierra Leone – 10, Togo – 76
  • April 15 – Finance ministers from the Group of 20 agree to put a hold on debt service by poor countries so they can concentrate their efforts on health service and ending the pandemic. 76 countries will be able to participate in the plan, including 40 from Sub-Saharan Africa. $8 billion in private loans and $12 billion in loans from other countries will be frozen for the remainder of 2020 and possibly beyond. Another $12 billion in multilateral loans from organizations such as the World Bank is also under consideration.
  • April 17 – Considerable fake news about COVID-19 is circulating in Africa.
  • April 20 – COVID-19 pandemic: Ghana lifts lockdown rules in Accra and Kuasi, citing improved COVID-19 testing and the "severe" impact of the restrictions on the poor and vulnerable. Ghana reports 1,042 cases and nine deaths from COVID-19 and 68,000 people have been tested.
  • April 22 – The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the number of malaria deaths in Africa may double this year as efforts to curb the disease wind down.
  • April 24 – Concord Day, Niger
  • April 25 – COVID-19 pandemic: Burkina Faso has 629 cases and 41 deaths, including Rose Marie Compaore, the second Vice President of the parliament. About 50 doctors were confirmed positive this week.
  • April 28 – Former Ivory Coast Prime Minister and leader of the Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire Guillaume Soro is fined $7.6 million (£6.1 million) for embezzlement and money laundering. Soro, who lives in exile in France, says the move is designed to remove him from the 2020 Ivorian presidential election.
  • April 29
  • A new polio outbreak is reported in Niger, unrelated to last year's outbreak.
  • COVID-19 pandemic: Infections surge 24% in ten days to over 2,000 cases as Ghana lifts lockdown.

May

  • May 2 – A French soldier is killed during Operation Barkhane by terrorists in Mali. Two other soldiers were injured in the April 23 attack in the Liptako region of southeast central Mali.
  • May 6
  • Nine-year-old Joselia Kollie of Liberia writes a popular song about the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • A sandstorm covers Niamey, Niger.
  • May 8 – Guinean-born Roman Catholic Cardenal Robert Sarah finds himself in the middle of a controversy over COVID-19.
  • May 9 – Jihadist activity in Burkina Faso forces the closing of gold mines.
  • May 13
  • The Defense Ministry in Niger says that 75 Boko Haram extremists have been killed in operations this week.
  • COVID-19 pandemic: A COVID-19 survivor is stoned in Ghana.
  • May 17 – COVID-19 pandemic: Fears grow of spread of COVID-19 as mosques reopen in the region.
  • May 28 – The International Criminal Court gives permission the former president of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, to leave Belgium if certain conditions are met.

June

  • June 1
  • Gunmen attack a refugee camp in Intikane of 35,000 people in Niger, killing three and cutting off water supplies.
  • June 2 – Encouraged by protests against the murder of George Floyd in the United States and around the world, Nigerians have gone public with protests against violence. #JusticeForUwa, #JusticeForTina, and #JusticeForJennifer are some of the rallying cries on social media.
  • June 3 – The government of The Gambia has demanded a "transparent, credible and objective investigation" into the shooting death of Momodou Lamin Sisay, 39—the son of Lare Sisay, a retired diplomat—by police in Snellville, Georgia, the United States.
  • June 4 – The board of the African Development Bank agrees to an investigation into president Akinwumi Adesina. Adesina is up for reelection in August.
  • June 5
  • French forces kill Abdelmalek Droukdel, the leader of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) near Tessalit in northern Mali. They had arrested Mohamed el Mrabat on May 19.
  • Thousands march in Bamako to demand the resignation of Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, alleging corruption, arbitrary arrests, and organization of the April legislative elections.
  • June 9 - Gunmen suspected of belonging to Boko Haram kill 81 villagers in Gubio, Borno State, Nigeria. Another 20 people are killed in an attack in Katsina State.
  • June 10
  • Armed rebels kill ten soldiers in Sikolo, Kong Department, Ivory Coast.
  • Amnesty International accuses security forces of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso of unlawfully killing or causing the disappearance of around 200 people this year and says they could be war crimes.
  • June 12
  • World Day Against Child Labor: The International Labour Organization and the UNICEF warn that millions of children are likely to be pushed into forced labor because of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • June 13 – Authorities in Cape Verde arrest Alex Saab, a businessman accused by the U.S. of corrupt dealings with President Nicolás Maduro's government in Venezuela, while en route to Iran .
  • June 27 – Incumbent Ghana President Akufo-Addo, 76, is chosen by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to run for reelection against former president John Dramani Mahama, 61, on December 7.

July

  • July 8
  • At least 180 bodies are found in mass graves in Djibo, Burkina Faso, where soldiers are fighting jihadists. It is suspected that the government forces were involved in mass extrajudicial executions.
  • Ivorian Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, dies.
  • July 12
  • French Defence Minister Florence Parly announces that the European Union will deploy 100 French and Estonian troops to Mali starting July 15. Sixty Czech soldiers will be sent in October, followed by 150 Swedish troops in January 2021. Italy will also send troops.
  • Protests continue in Mali after eleven people were killed on July 10 and 11.
  • July 13 – Vice President Daniel Kablan Duncan, 77, of the Ivory Coast resigns for personal reasons.
  • July 18
  • Between three and 16 security forces are killed in a clash with criminals near Jibia in Katsina state, Nigeria.
  • Four people are killed as hundreds protest the relocation of a power generator in Sierra Leone.
  • July 23 – Economic Community of West African States negotiations to solve Mali's political crisis as the political opposition renews protests to force President Ibrahim Boubcar Keita to leave office three years before his term ends.
  • July 27 – COVID-19 pandemic: Dr. Francesco Branca of the World Health Organization says that COVID-19-linked hunger is leading to 10,000 child deaths per month.
  • July 30 – 31: Eid al-Adha Islamic Festival of the Sacrifice

August

September

October

November—December

Culture

Fashion

  • July 7 – Ghana Textiles Printing launches a new line of designs inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • December 13 – Dakar's Fashion Week catwalk is moved to an outdoor baobab forest because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Film and video

Literature

Music

Sports

Deaths

January and February

March and April

May and June

July and August

September and October

November and December

See also

External links

References