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 ($32.9m) by a French court for embezzling public funds. His assets are seized but 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 (date unknown) –
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 (DRC) 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Peace Corps volunteers worldwide are withdrawn from their host countries.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 (WHO) 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 (Gorilla beringei). • 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 (MRC), 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 (ADC) 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
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 16 –
Rose Christiane Raponda becomes Gabon's first female prime minister. • 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. • August 8 – Chadian President Idriss Deby says that Boko Haram has been driven from Chadian territory, but that the extremist group continues to wrack havoc in the
Lake Chad area during nighttime excursions from Nigeria. • August 11 • Independence Day, Chad (from France, 1960) • Angolan billionaire
Isabel dos Santos resigns from
Unitel amidst corruption charges. • August 15 • Independence Day, Republic of the Congo (from France, 1960) • August 21 – An ebola outbreak in
Province of Équateur, DR Congo kills 43 and infects 100. • August 23 – DR Congo continues exemptions to restrictions on the exportation of cobalt (Co), tin (Sn), tungsten (W), and
tantalum (Ta) ore. • August 25 • The WHO reports wild
polio eradication in Africa. The announcement was made by
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and
Matshidiso Moeti of WHO,
Aliko Dangote, and
Bill Gates. • DR Congo says the measles epidemic that killed 7,000 children under five has ended. • Gerard Mombaza Mombembo "the butcher of Nouabale Ndoki", 35, originally from the DR Congo, is sentenced to 30 years of hard labor for illegal hunting of elephants in
Ouésso,
Sangha Department, Congo.
September and October • September 19 –
Central African Republic Civil War: Eric Danboy Bagale, head of former Central African Republic president
François Bozizé's guard and head of the mostly Christian anti-Balaka militias following Bozizé's ouster in 2013, is arrested for war crimes in relation to revenge killings. • September 24 – Both the government's Rapid Intervention Battalion (BIR) and rebel groups are accused of rape and violence against women in Camaroon. • October 12 – Independence Day, Equatorial Guinea (from Spain, 1968) • November 17 – At least thirty-six people are killed by the
Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in
North Kivu province,
Democratic Republic of the Congo. • December 1 – Republic Day, Central African Republic • December 7 – Members of Parliament in the DR Congo react violently when President Felix Tshisekedi moves to form a new ruling coalition and hold special elections. • December 15 –
French Armed Forces are exposed for meddling in African politics with 84 fake accounts on
Facebook and 14 on
Instagram. Russia has also used social media to meddle in African politics. • December 21 – Troops from Russia and
Rwanda are rushed to the Central African Republic to forestall a coup.
Predicted and scheduled events • December 27 –
Central African Republic elections for president and parliament • TBA: Gabon Senate election, late 2020 or early 2021 ==Culture==