2020 in Middle Africa
The following lists events that happened during 2020 in Middle Africa, also called Central Africa. The countries listed are those described are: Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
The combined population of the nine countries is 177,533,990
Countries
Angola
The struggle for independence from Portugal that began in 1961 culminated in the establishment of the independent People's Republic of Angola on November 11, 1975. This was followed by the 26-year Angolan Civil War, becoming the Republic of Angola in 2002. Angola is a member of the African Union, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, the Southern African Development Community, and the United Nations. The capital is Luanda.- President of Angola: João Lourenço
- * Vice President: Bornito de Sousa
Cameroon
- President of Cameroon: Paul Biya
- Prime Minister of Cameroon: Joseph Ngute
- *Deputy Prime Minister Amadou Ali
Central African Republic
- List of heads of state of the Central African Republic||President: Faustin-Archange Touadéra
- Prime Minister: Firmin Ngrébada
Chad
- President: Lt. Gen. Idriss Déby
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
- President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Félix Tshisekedi
- Prime Minister: Sylvestre Ilunga
- * Deputy Prime Ministers: Jose Makila, Leonard She Okitundu, Henri Mova Sankanyi
Equatorial Guinea
- President: Brig. Gen. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
- *Vice President of Equatorial Guinea : Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue
- Prime Minister: Francisco Pascual Obama Asue
- * First Deputy Prime Minister Clemente Engonga Nguema Onguene
- * Second Deputy Prime Minister Angel Mesie Mibuy
- * Third Deputy Prime Minister Alfonso Nsue Mokuy
Gabon
- President: Ali Bongo Ondimba
- *Vice President: vacant
- Prime Minister: Julien Nkoghe Bekale
Republic of the Congo / Congo (Brazzaville)
- President: Denis Sassou Nguesso
- Prime Minister: Clément Mouamba
São Tomé and Príncipe
- President: Evaristo Carvalho
- Prime Minister: Jorge Bom Jesus
Monthly events
January
- January 19 – A suspected female Boko Haram suicide bomber detonated her explosives in Kaiga-Kindjiria, western Chad, killing nine civilians.
- January 24 – The Ministry of Health of the Central African Republic declares a national measles epidemic. 3,600 cases have been infected and 53 people have died between February 2019 and January 2020.
- January 30 – Five new Ebola cases are reported in the Central African Republic.
February
- February 7 – Twenty-eight people are sentenced to 10 to 15 years of hard labor and five Central African Republic Christian militiamen are sentenced to life terms for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
- February 9 – 2020 Cameroonian parliamentary election
- February 11 – Equatorial Guinea Vice-President Teodorin Obiang, 50, is fined 30 million euros by a French court for embezzling public funds. His assets are seized by he is given a suspended sentence.
- February 12 – The World Health Organization extends the emergency health status for eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo related to the Ebola outbreak, although they say the situation is “getting better.”
- February 16 – U.N. peacekeepers and government forces kill twelve members of the Popular Front for the Rebirth of Central Africa in Birao, Vakaga, Central African Republic.
- February – Festival Amani dance festival in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo
March
- March 12 – At least 18 African countries, including Cameroon, Gabon, and Democratic Republic of the Congo report cases of the novel coronavirus. Most are in single figures, and no deaths have been reported in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- March 15 – In a historic first, all Peace Corps volunteers worldwide are withdrawn from their host countries.
- March 22 – 92 Chadian soldiers are killed by Boko Haram in Lac province. 24 military vehicles are destroyed.
April
- April 8 – The Democratic Republic of the Congo declares is it is Ebola free. However, two days later a new case is reported.
- April 12 – Easter Sunday in Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo is somber as the community struggles with both COVID-19 and its second new case of Ebola. The coronavirus is more contagious but Ebola is more often fatal; the struggle against both is hampered by insurrection in the country.
- April 13 – 14,000 cases of COVID-19 and 788 deaths have been reported across Africa. Cases by country: Cameroon – 820, Central African Republic – 8, Chad – 19, Congo-Brazzaville – 70, DR Congo – 234, Equatorial Guinea – 21, Gabon – 49
- 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 16 – Forty-four suspected members of Boko Haram are found dead in a cell in a prison in Chad, apparently poisoned. The men were among 58 prisoners placed in a single cell in Ndjamena and were not given anything to eat or drink for two days.
- April 22 – The World Health Organization warns that the number of malaria deaths in Africa may double this year as efforts to curb the disease wind down.
- April 24
- *Twelve rangers and at least five others are killed in an ambush near Virunga National Park in DR Congo. The assassins are believed to be FDLR rebels. The park is home to the endangered eastern gorilla.
- *Eight people are killed, 35 injured, and 168 arrested, on a police raid of the Bundu dia Kongo sect that seeks to restore the historical Kingdom of Kongo. Eight officers were seriously injured in the raid.
- April 30 – At least 25 people are killed and 51 others wounded in clashes in the northeast of the Central African Republic.
May
- May 8 – Zimbabwe opens its tobacco season after a one-month delay because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- May 13 – Six members of Cameroon’s opposition party, the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, are arrested for distributing face masks and hand sanitisers in the capital, Yaoundé.
- May 19 – At least 40 people are killed by Allied Democratic Forces rebels in Samboko, Ituri Province, DR Congo. Seventeen were killed in the nearby village of Makutano the day before.
- May 20: State Unification Day, Cameroon President Paul Biya, 87, addresses the nation after two months of silence. "The number of people infected rises day after day, bringing proof that the fight against the pandemic is complex and difficult," he said. Camaroon has had 3,500 cases including 140 deaths from COVID-19.
June
- June 1 – Authorities in DR Congo confirm a second Ebola outbreak, north of Mbandaka. There have also been 3,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 72 deaths, while there have been 369,520 measles cases and 6,779 deaths since 2019.
- June 9 – A statue of King Leopold II of Belgium is knocked over in Ekeren, Antwerp, Belgium by protesters who object to his ties to colonialism in the Congo Free State.
- June 11 – COVID-19 pandemic: Nobel laureate-winning doctor Denis Mukwege quits the task force in eastern Congo, noting testing delays and organizational problems.
- 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 27 – DR Congo justice minister, Celestin Tunda Ya Kasende, is arrested in crisis over judicial reforms. He was released hours later.
- June 30: Independence Day, Democratic Republic of the Congo
July
- July 12
- *Independence Day, São Tomé and Príncipe
- *Thousands of protesters march in Kinshasa, Bukavu, and Kananga; Democratic Republic of the Congo, against the selection of a new election chief aligned with former president Joseph Kabila. Five people were killed in similar protests on July 8.
- July 20 – Ebola infections in western DR Congo increase to 60.
- July 25 – Former Central African Republic president François Bozizé announces his candidacy for president in the 2020 Central African general election.
Predicted and scheduled events
- August 11 – Independence Day, Chad
- August 15
- *Independence Day, Republic of the Congo
- *Assumption of Mary, Public holiday in the Central African Republic
- August 17 – Independence Day, Gabon
- October 12 – Independence Day, Equatorial Guinea
- November 1 – All Saints' Day, Public holiday in the Central African Republic
- November 11 – Independence Day, Angola
- December 1 – Republic Day, Central African Republic
- December 13 – 2020 Chadian parliamentary election
- December 27 – Central African Republic elections for president and parliament
- TBA: Gabon Senate election, late 2020 or early 2021
Culture
Fashion
- May 24 – Congolese designer Anifa Mvuemba releases the latest collection for her fashion brand, Hanifa, on Instagram, using virtual models.
Sports
- November 29, 2019 – 1 February 1, 2020: 2019–20 CAF Champions League group stage
- December 1, 2019 – 2 February 2, 2020: 2019–20 CAF Confederation Cup group stage
- January – Groups are announced for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification in October.
- January 5 – 9: Volleyball at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's African qualification, Yaoundé, Cameroon
- January 17 – June 21: 2020 African U-20 Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament
- April 20 – 20 October 20: 2020 African Nations Championship qualification, Cameroon
- May TBA – Finals of 2020 African U-17 Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament Began January 2020
- June 21 – Finals of 2020 African U-20 Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament
- October 9, 2019 – 8 September 2020: 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, Cameroon
- October 5 – 12: 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF Second Round
- December 2 – 12: 2020 African Women's Handball Championship
Deaths
January to March
- January 6 – Aloïse Moudileno Massengo, 86, Congolese politician and lawyer, Vice President
- January 23 – Bertrand Teyou, 50, Cameroonian author.
- January 28 – Léon Mokuna, 91, Congolese football player and manager
- February 2 – Mad Mike Hoare, 100, British mercenary leader.
- February 4 – Donatien Mavoungou, 72, Gabonese physician and fraudster.
- February 6 – André Neles, 42, Brazilian-Equatorial Guinean footballer.
- March 7 – Adamou Ndam Njoya, 77, Cameroonian author and politician, founder and president of the Cameroon Democratic Union, mayor of Foumban.
- March 19 – Aurlus Mabélé, 66, Congolese singer and composer, stroke and COVID-19.
- March 20 – Victor Fotso, 93, Cameroonian politician and businessman, Mayor of Bandjoun.
- March 24 – Manu Dibango, 86, Cameroonian saxophonist, COVID-19.
- March 28 – Jean-Claude Ganga, 86, Congolese sports administrator
- March 30 – Joachim Yhombi-Opango, 81, Congolese politician, President and Prime Minister, COVID-19.
April to June
- April 8
- *Miguel Jones, 81, Equatoguinean-born Spanish soccer player ; COVID-19
- *François Luc Macosso, 81, Congolese politician
- April 9 – Simplice Guédet Manzela, 71, Gabonese politician.
- April 12 – Samuel Wembé, 73, Cameroonian businessman and politician; COVID-19
- April 15 – Gérard Mulumba Kalemba, 82, Congolese Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Mweka, COVID-19.
- April 14 – Kasongo wa Kanema, 73, Congolese musician.
- May 10 – Ashu Priestley Ojong, 34, Cameroonian politician, mayor of Mamfe ; shot
- May 21 – Frankline Ndifor, 39, Camaroonian politician, pastor, and prophet; COVID-19
- May 25 – Joseph Bouasse, 21, Cameroonian footballer ; heart attack.
- May – Raphael Yanyi, DR Congo judge; stabbed in the head
- June 11 – Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet, 59, Gabonese politician, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, asthma.
- June 12
- *Dodo Doris, 71, Congolese musician ; chest complications.
- *Claude Ndam, 65, Cameroonian singer-songwriter.
- June 14
- *Nguea Laroute, 59–60, Cameroonian Makossa singer; diabetes.
- *Pierre Lumbi, 70, Congolese politician, Senator ; COVID-19.
July to September
- July 8 – Santiago Nchama, 70, Equatoguinean politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
- July 16
- *Gladys Ejomi, Cameroonian physician.
- *Delphine Zanga Tsogo, 84, Cameroonian writer, feminist and politician, Deputy.
- July 24 – Kundi Paihama, 75, Angolan politician, MP.
Footnotes