Many Africans are glad to see 2011 come to an end. It was a year that saw thousands of protesters killed as they called for change in their respective countries. The Arab Spring, a popular revolution driven mainly by young people, saw Tunisia's authoritarian President Zine El Abidine flee the country after 23 years in power, as well as the toppling of Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed.

Africans further south are now hoping for an African Spring to get rid of their oppressive governments.

In western Africa a series of bombings and shootings in Nigeria blamed on Boko Haram, a radical Islamist armed group that seeks to introduce strict Islamic law known as shariah, ripped through Africa's most populous nation.

The rise of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has brought more worries to a continent already plagued by poverty, disease and hunger.

Power struggles

2011 was also a year of election violence. A disputed presidential election in Ivory Coast between current President Alassane Ouattara and former President Laurent Gbagbo, brought the once stable country, the world's leading cocoa producer, to its knees. On May 6 Ouattara was sworn in, but by then post-election violence had claimed 3,000 lives. In November 2011, Gbagbo was transferred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity.

A similar scenario played out in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Chaotic presidential elections held on November 28, saw Joseph Kabila return to power. However his main challenger Etienne Tshisekedi has refused to accept defeat and there are growing fears of an opposition crackdown after Tshisekedi declared himself president. More than 20 people have died in clashes between security forces and opposition supporters in this vast mineral-rich central African state. In eastern Congo there is no end in sight to the armed rebellion.

Analysts are predicting a turbulent year ahead with about 30 elections for new parliaments and presidents scheduled to take place all over the continent. Kenya, Zimbabwe, Angola and Madagascar are but a few.

All eyes on the Horn of Africa

The spotlight was without doubt on the Horn of Africa, due to the prolonged absence of rain. Some 13 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti are enduring the worst drought in 60 years. This includes over half a million refugees in the Dadaab and Kakuma camps in Kenya, making it the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Things worsened in October when Kenyan troops marched into Somalia to pursue Al-Shabaab Islamic militants, blaming the rebel and terrorist group for series of kidnappings. Al-Shabaab retaliated by kicking out 16 international relief organizations, accusing them of illicit activities.

The conflict could escalate with Ethiopia joining in. Kenya's intervention has done little to end Al-Shabaab's dominance in a country that has endured more than two decades without a central government.

Africa's southern region was also plagued by unrest, Zimbabwe's fragile coalition government was barely functional as power wrangles between President Robert Mugabe and his Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai dominated the scene. With talks of a presidential election in 2012 and a declaration of interest to run again from the 87-year-old Mugabe, violence has become the norm of the day, and Tsvangirai has been complaining of repeated human rights violations.

Few moments of glory

There were some celebratory moments. On July 9, South Sudan proclaimed its independence after a January referendum to secede from the North. Ninety-nine percent voted in favor of breaking ties with Khartoum, enabling South Sudan to become the newest country in the world. But the celebrations were short-lived as the North and South battled for the oil-rich regions along their mutual border and observers are warning of a serious danger of all-out war between South and North Sudan.

On October 7, 2011 Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Liberian "peace warrior" Leymah Gbowee gave Africa something to cheer about as they were named joint winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, together with Yemen's Arab Spring activist Tawakkul Karman.

But the prestigious award was overshadowed to some extent by election violence in Liberia.

Africans might be glad to see 2011 come to an end, but will 2012 be any better? The continent is rife with discontent. Only a single spark is needed to ignite an explosion in the slums of its rapidly growing cities, which means 2012 will be another challenging year for Africa.

Author: Chrispin Mwakideu (AFP, KNA, dpa, epd)
Editor: Susan Houlton / rm