No return to bad old days of coups in Africa

By Barry Moody - Analysis

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Mauritania's coup had echoes of a time when military takeovers were endemic in Africa, but swift condemnation from within the continent suggests there will be no return to the bad old days.

The coup on Wednesday had all the elements of an old style African putsch, with military leaders seizing power when civilian President Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi tried to fire them.

But while Africa's newest oil producer itself remains prone to military rule -- the continent's last successful coup was in the same country three years ago -- Africa as a whole seems to have buried its reputation as a byword for violent takeovers.

Whereas the old Organization of African Unity was notorious for its failure to intervene or even comment on violence and tyrannical rule among its members, its successor since 2002, the African Union, has set a new course of outspoken reaction.

It swiftly condemned the coup in Nouakchott, as it did an abortive rebel takeover in Chad in February, and dispatched its peace and security commissioner to Mauritania.

"The AU reaction and its condemnation are a continuation of a very positive stance in recent years in condemning military interventions ... times have very much changed," said Tom Cargill of London's Chatham House think tank.

There have been only a handful of African coups in the last decade compared to their heyday between the 1960s and 1980s, before a 1990s democratization drive turned the tide.

Between the first moves to independence from colonialism in the 1950s to 2004 there were more than 80 coups in Africa but most of these were in the earlier decades.

Experts said in that period coups tended to generate more coups as disgruntled military officers became accustomed to removing governments across the continent.

As well as the democratization of the 90s, powerful economic factors have begun to act as a strong deterrent to arbitrary military takeovers in the last few years as Africa benefits from a global commodities boom, becoming a major investment target.

ECONOMIC FACTORS

African countries are increasingly worried that trouble in one country will tarnish another for investors.

Sub-Saharan Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer, Nigeria, booming on the back of high energy prices, was quick to condemn the Mauritanian coup, saying Abuja would not recognize the new military rulers.

Nigeria was itself once notorious for military government but has not suffered a coup since 1993 and economic progress is the biggest factor keeping soldiers in the barracks.

"Nigeria's stock market is booming, its banking sector is really starting to take off. They are starting to feel the positive effects and economic benefits that come from peace and security," Cargill said.