Are military takeovers on the rise in Africa?

Military coups have been a regular occurrence in Africa in the decades since independence and there is now concern they are becoming more frequent.

Sudan has this year experienced two such events, one in September which failed and the latest in which Gen Abdel Fattah Burhan dissolved the civilian arm of a transitional government and took over.

In Guinea, President Condé was ousted by the army in September and in neighbouring Mali there have been two interventions by the army in less than a year, the most recent one in May.

In Niger, a coup was thwarted in March just days before a presidential inauguration.

So are military interventions occurring more often on the continent?