In January, Tunisian protesters took to the streets, and by 14th January the country’s long-standing dictator had run away. Inspired by the results in Tunisia, protesters took to the streets in Egypt three weeks ago, and now president Mubarak has been forced to stand down. More protests have occurred in Mauritania and Algeria. In Jordan, King Abdullah has sacked his government and appointed a new one in a bid to head off a revolution.
In Yemen, the president, who has been in power for almost 33 years, has nervously attempted to hold off the revolution by announcing he will step down in 2013, and urging the government to extend social security and take steps to address rising unemployment. In each case, the uprisings have been about poor economic management, high youth unemployment, corruption, and repressive government.
Many sub-Saharan African governments have managed their economies more poorly, created higher youth unemployment, engaged in more blatant corruption, and exercised greater repression than any of the governments that have been targeted by the protests. So will the revolution spread throughout Africa? No, according to Charles Onyango-Obbo, because most African populations are too fragmented, with too much rivalry along tribal or religious lines to allow the people to come together to overthrow a repressive government.