How do Africa’s many “leaders for life” do it?

The recent spate of coups in West Africa has unsurprisingly drawn the attention of African leaders. The resurgence of coups was high on the agenda of AU leaders who met last weekend in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. Their condemnation of what a spokesperson described as a “wave of unconstitutional changes of government” was loud and unequivocal.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatorial Guinea's President and new African Union (AU) Chairman, speaks during a news conference at the closing ceremony of the 16th African Union Summit, in Ethiopia…

Biya, at eighty-five years old, is seeking a seventh consecutive term that would extend his thirty-six-year rule as Cameroon's president until 2025.

Led by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the African Union (AU) voted by a huge margin in favor of a proposal for withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC). In the aftermath of the vote, …