The French Territory of Afars and Issas becomes independent as Djibouti, with Hassan Gouled Aptidon as president

Steve Biko, founder of Black Consciousness, dies of head wounds received in police custody in Pretoria

Anwar el-Sadat, the Egyptian president, travels to Jerusalem to propose a peace plan to the Israelis

In a multi-million dollar ceremony, Jean-Bédel Bokassa proclaims himself emperor of the Central African Republic

Jomo Kenyatta dies in office as Kenya's president and is succeeded by his deputy, Daniel arap Moi

Anwar el-Sadat and Menachem Begin sign an Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty at Camp David in the USA

Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat share the Nobel Peace Prize

Morocco annexes the Mauritanian part of the Western Sahara, thus taking control of the entire region

Idi Amin flees from Uganda as Tanzanian troops reach his capital, Kampala

The first multiracial elections held in Rhodesia are won by bishop Abel Muzorewa

Young officers, led by flight lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, take power in a coup in Ghana

French paratroops bring to an end the savage rule of Bokassa in the Central African Republic

A conference in London, at Lancaster House, finally achieves agreement on Southern Rhodesia

Rhodesia becomes independent, taking the name Zimbabwe, with Robert Mugabe as prime minister

A coup in Uganda brings Milton Obote back into power, and he is confirmed as president in a subsequent general election

Muslim terrorists assassinate Anwar el-Sadat, in response to his peace agreement with Israel

Sadat is peacefully succeeded in Egypt by his vice-president, Hosni Mubarak

Senegal and the Gambia partially merge as Senegambia, in a confederation which lasts seven years

Yasser Arafat and the PLO move to Tunisia, after being driven out of Lebanon by Israel

South African novelist J.M. Coetzee publishes The Life and Times of Michael K, and wins the Booker Prize

Government imposition of Islamic law (sharia) triggers renewed civil war in Sudan between the Muslim north and Christian south

The name of Upper Volta is changed to Burkina Faso, meaning 'land of incorruptible people'

A disastrous famine in the northern provinces of Ethiopia is the first to be seen all round the world on television

The Turkana Boy, the most complete known skeleton of Homo erectus, is found near Lake Turkana by Kamoya Kimeu in Richard Leakey's team

Desmond Tutu, rector of an Anglican church in Soweto, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize