1) Ethiopian mega-dam to start producing power next month

Ethiopia says a controversial mega-dam it’s building over the Blue Nile will start generating electricity in a month.

The announcement by the country’s water ministry comes as the two downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan, continue to raise concerns that the dam will impact their essential water supplies. The $5bn (£3.6bn) project is aimed at providing power to tens of millions of Ethiopians, which could transform people's lives and the economy.

Water Minister Sileshi Bekele said that an initial 750 megawatts of electricity will be produced by two of the dam’s turbines. When it's finished, the dam is expected to generate eight times that amount. The project has caused tension between Ethiopia and its neighbours, with Egypt and Sudan worried about droughts and water security. But, at a time when Ethiopia is enmeshed in a costly civil war, this is a rare bit of good news for many in the country.

2) Chad protesters denounce the junta

Protesters marching against the junta in Chad took to the streets of the capital, The country is currently being governed by what’s known as the Transitional Military Council (TMC) under the leadership of Mahamat Idriss Déby. He came to power after the death of his father Idriss Déby Itno in April, who had been president since 1990. The TMC’s opponents see its continued rule as a power grab.

They accuse France of being behind the junta, and the marchers were chanting "Chad is not a kingdom," and "no to French support for the Déby father-and-son system".

The junta has said there will be elections after an 18-month dialogue, but this has not started and the body that’s supposed to draw up a new constitution has not been formed

3) Twelve die in DR Congo from Angola toxic mine leak

Nearly 4,500 people have fallen sick in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo following a toxic leak from a diamond mine in neighbouring Angola, the environment minister says. Eve Bazaiba said 12 people had died. She said DR Congo would ask for reparations for the damage caused but did not specify an amount. There has been no response so far from the mining company. Last month's leak from a reservoir containing heavy metal by-products caused a river to turn red, killing fish, hippos and other animals.

Turmoil in Guinea

The soldiers who seized power in Guinea during the weekend have consolidated their takeover with the installation of an army 

officers at the top of Guinea’s eight regions and various administrative districts.

West African countries have threatened sanctions following the overthrow of President Alpha Conde, who was serving a third term after altering the constitution to permit it, which his opponents said was illegal. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc will hold a virtual extraordinary summit to discuss the situation on Wednesday.

After seizing state television the day before, the mutinous soldiers had vowed to restore democracy in a statement read out by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya. “The duty of a soldier is to save the country,” read Doumbouya, who sat draped in a Guinean flag flanked by six other soldiers in uniform.

“The personalization of political life is over. We will no longer entrust politics to one man, we will entrust it to the people,” Doumbouya said, adding that the constitution and government would also be dissolved and borders closed for one week.

Doumbouya, who has headed a special forces unit in the military, said he was acting in the best interests of the nation of more than 12.7 million people. Not enough economic progress has been made since independence from France in 1958, the colonel said. Coup leader Mamady Doumbouya, a former officer in the French Foreign Legion, has promised a “new era for governance and 

economic development”. But he has not yet explained exactly what this will entail, or given a timeframe.

The overall number of coup attempts in Africa remained remarkably consistent at an average of around four a year in the four decades between 1960 and 2000.

"African countries have had conditions common for coups, like poverty and poor economic performance. When a country has one coup, that's often a harbinger of more coups."

Coups dropped to around two a year in the two decades up to 2019. We are only two years into the current decade and in 2020, only one coup was reported. But it's worth noting that so far this year, there's been a noticeably higher than an average number of coups compared with the previous two decades (Niger, Chad, Mali, and Guinea).

Sudan has had the most with 15 - five of them successful. The most recent was in 2019 with the removal of Omar al-Bashir as 

head of state following months of popular protest.

Bashir had himself taken over power in a military coup in 1989.

Nigeria had a reputation for military coups in the years following independence with eight between January 1966 and the takeover by General Sani Abacha in 1993.

However, since 1999 transfers of power in Africa's most populous nation have been by democratic election.