Africa’s history has been shaped by transformative events, and several of them unfolded on September 29 across different centuries and nations.
In 642, Arab general Amr ibn al-ʿĀṣ entered Alexandria, bringing the Arab conquest of Egypt to a decisive end after three years of military campaigns.
The event marked the beginning of the Islamic era in the region, setting the course for profound cultural and religious change.
Centuries later, in 1898, French forces captured Malinke leader Samory Touré in Nzo, in present-day Guinea. Touré had resisted French colonisation for sixteen years, leading the Wassoulou Empire in a determined struggle. Following his capture, he was exiled to Gabon, where he died two years later in 1900.
His legacy remains central to anti-colonial narratives across West Africa.
On 29 September 1979, Equatorial Guinea witnessed the execution of its former president Francisco Macías Nguema. He had been overthrown weeks earlier by his nephew, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who remains in power today.
Convicted of genocide, mass murder and embezzlement, Macías Nguema and six allies were executed at Black Beach Prison after a military trial.
Tragedy struck South Africa on the same date in 1987, when torrential rains caused devastating floods and landslides in Natal Province, now KwaZulu-Natal. More than 500 people were killed, and entire communities were destroyed.
The following year, in 1988, Nelson Mandela was receiving treatment for tuberculosis at Constantiaberg MediClinic in South Africa. At the time, nurses were instructed to restrict visits, underscoring the secrecy and control surrounding Mandela’s incarceration during apartheid.
On 29 September 1991, pro-democracy protests in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, led to the appointment of Étienne Tshisekedi as prime minister. He formed a government of national unity, although his authority remained restricted by the dominance of Mobutu Sese Seko’s regime.
From conquests to resistance, tragedy to political transformation, September 29 remains etched as a day when defining chapters of African history unfolded.
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