January 14 – Africa
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pays an official visit to Ethiopia, pledging more cooperation, investment, and aid for Africa. He says Japan wants to invest in education in Africa. He promises humanitarian aid of $320 million for Africa, including South Sudan struggling with infighting and war-torn Central Africa Republic. Abe’s visit is seen as an attempt to counter China’s influence in Africa.
January 19 – Egypt
Ninety-eight percent of voters in Egypt approve the country’s new constitution in a nationwide referendum, which will replace the one introduced by the former Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. In comparison, the previous constitution was approved by only 64 percent of voters. The new document states that Islam remains the state religion, but it guarantees religious freedoms and protection. It also guarantees equality between men and women.
January 24 – South Sudan
A ceasefire agreement is reached between the followers of South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir and his former Vice President Riek Machar following a conflict that killed hundreds of people and displaced more than half a million. The conflict was a result of a power struggle between the two leaders who represent two different ethnic groups of South Sudan: Dinka and Nuer. In mid-2013, President Kiir dismissed Machar and in December accused him of plotting a coup, which sparked deadly clashes between the rival factions.
January 27 – Tunisia
Tunisia adopts its first constitution since ousting President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali during the Arab Spring revolutions in 2011. It defines Islam as the state religion, but guarantees freedom of religion. It also guarantees equality between men and women. After the ousting of Ben Ali, the moderate Islamist Ennahda party has been in power.
March 24 – Egypt
An Egyptian court handed down death sentences for 528 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization of the ousted President Mohammed Morsi, which since then has been declared a terrorist group by the new government. They are convicted of murdering a policeman and other violent acts. The sentence jolts the international community and causes a concern about the verdict’s compliance with international standards. Those convicted are expected to appeal the ruling.
April 15 – Nigeria
The militant Islamist group Boko Haram in Nigeria abducts 230 girls from a Christian boarding school in northeastern city of Chibok in Borno state. The leader of the group threatens to sell the girls as slaves, sparking outraged reaction not only in Nigeria, but across the globe. The Boko Haram group, which opposes the western-style education, fights to establish an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.
April 23 – South Sudan
The United Nations’ report says that rebels allied with South Sudanese former Vice President Riek Machar have massacred hundreds of civilians in the oil-rich town of Bentiu. The town has changed hands several times during the power struggle between the President Salva Kiir and the sacked Vice President Machar. As the leaders belong to two different ethnic groups, the Dinkas and Nuers, the struggle has evolved into an ethnic conflict.
May 9 – South Africa
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) wins a sweeping victory in the country’s parliamentary elections, gathering 62 percent of the vote and leaving the Democratic Alliance (DA) behind with only 22 percent. It is expected that after such an impressive win, the ANC will focus on implementing its National Development Plan that seeks to cut unemployment rate to 14 percent by 2020 from 25 percent, and eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030.
May 29 – Egypt
Former army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi wins Egypt’s presidential election, gaining more than 93 percent of the vote, but with the voter turnout below 50 percent. Some groups boycotted the election, including the now banned Muslim Brotherhood that won the previous elections. The new president faces many challenges, including Egypt’s weak economy, security problems, and social issues.
June 18 – West Africa
The deadly Ebola virus strikes West Africa, with Guinea as the worst affected country. Since the beginning of the outbreak in February, the country registered 264 deaths. The virus then has spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, with a case fatality rate of up to 90 percent. It is one of the world’s most virulent diseases. The infection is transmitted by direct contact with the body fluids of infected animals or people. The World Health Organization (WHO) is working with the West African countries on containing the disease.
June 25 – Libya
Libya is holding parliamentary elections, in which about 2,000 candidates are competing for 200 seats in the lower house of the parliament. All the seats are contested individually rather than by party association. It is hoped that the elections will stabilize the country grappling with anarchy since the overthrow Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The old parliament has been paralyzed by divisions and political deadlock. The weak government also competes with various militant groups often associated with politicians.
July 8 – Somalia
Militants from the Islamist group Al-Shabab in Somalia raid the presidential compound in Mogadishu. The country’s president was not at the palace at the time of the attack. The militants retreated from Mogadishu in 2011, but continue their attacks on the city. (July 23): A popular Somali musician and a member of parliament Saado Warsame is killed by militants in a drive-by shooting in Mogadishu. She is the fourth Somali politician killed by the Islamists this year.
July 29 – Libya
Islamic militants in Libya seize a special forces base in the country’s second largest city of Benghazi. The United States has evacuated its staff from the capital Tripoli as security situation deteriorated. Since the overthrow of Libya’s dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has been plagued by infighting of thousands of various militant groups and weak and ineffective government.
July 31 – Liberia/ Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone declares a health state of emergency to tackle the epidemic of the deadly Ebola virus. The places in the epicenter of the outbreak will be quarantined. Liberia has already introduced such measures. Since the outbreak in February, Ebola has killed more than 720 people in West African countries. Ebola causes external hemorrhaging and internal bleeding, leading to organ failure.
August 24 – Nigeria
An Islamic organization, Boko Haram, announces that it has established an Islamic state in the northeastern area of Nigeria that is under its control. The government has deployed several hundreds of troops to the area, but so far the Boko Haram insurgents were able to push the soldiers across the border to Cameroon together with thousands of fleeing civilians.
August 24 – Libya
The Libya Dawn alliance, one of the rival militia groups in Libya, captures the international airport in the capital, Tripoli from another militia group, the Zintan, which held it for the last three years. The airport was the last link to its full control of the city. Libya’s newly elected parliament, the Council of Representatives, which relocated to Tobruk because of the violence in Tripoli, calls for the militias to put down their arms and join the national army. The former parliament, the General National Congress (GNC) dominated by Islamists, refuses to concede and continues to operate from Tripoli.
October 6 – Somalia/African Union
Somali and the African Union troops take over the town of Barawe, which has strategic importance in Somalia. The al-Shabab militants used Barawe as a supply route for weapons and food, as well as a base to launch attacks on the capital, Mogadishu.
October 20 – West Africa
The World Health Organization (WHO) declares Nigeria and Senegal Ebola-free. So far, the virus has infected more than 10,000 and killed close to 5.000 people, mostly in West African countries: Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. Several patients who were treated for Ebola in the United States with an experimental treatment have recovered. The only person who died from the virus in the U.S. was Thomas Duncan, a Liberian national, who contracted the virus in Liberia before flying to the U.S.
October 26 – Tunisia
Tunisia’s secular Nidaa Tounes party wins the most votes in the parliamentary elections, coming ahead of the governing Islamist Ennahda party. To govern, the Nidaa Tounes will have to form a coalition with other parties. Tunisia was the first country to start the Arab Spring revolts in 2011 and is considered to be a showcase of the political success in the region.
October 29 – Egypt
Egypt demolishes homes in Sinai to create a buffer zone along its 8-mile long border with the Gaza Strip, which will include water-filled trenches. The goal is to halt smuggling of weapons and fighters through tunnels under the Gaza and Sinai border. These tunnels have had also economic significance since the blockade imposed on the Gaza by Egypt and Israel in 2007. People living within the zone are being resettled.
November 17 – Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso’s military appoints former Foreign Minister Michael Kafando the country’s interim president until elections next year. The military forced President Blaise Compaore to resign in October amid mass protests against his plans to change the constitution that would allow him to stay in power. Compaore seized power in a coup in 1987 and since then won four disputed elections.