Nairobi/Johannesburg  - You know it has been a bad year when the only news to cheer is the election of a president in another country.

Unfortunately for many nations in Africa this has been the case this year, with the election of Barack Obama bringing small comfort to countries struggling with conflict and political instability.

While Obama's election may turn out to bring little in the way of concrete benefit to the continent, many Africans felt their self-respect was boosted by the victory of a man whose roots lie in Kenya.

It was a boost that was sorely needed after Kenya and South Africa, normally beacons of African stability, found themselves sucked back into strife and Zimbabwe, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo descended deeper into chaos.

Kenya began the year of troubles with post-election violence that saw around 1,500 people killed in clashes between rival tribes affiliated to political parties. Hundreds of thousands were forced to flee their homes as murder, arson and rape swept the land.

The clashes were prompted by Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga's accusation that President Mwai Kibaki's Party of National Unity had rigged the elections.

Calm returned when a deal negotiated by former UN secretary general Kofi Annan created a power-sharing government, with Odinga sworn in as prime minister in April.

East Africa's biggest economy is slowly recovering, however, and reforms are taking place to prevent a repeat of the violence.

2008 was also a watershed year for South Africa, the continent's biggest economy.

Several events took the shine off the Rainbow Nation, particularly two weeks of xenophobic bloodletting in the townships that claimed the lives of at least 62 impoverished African immigrants.

The growing defiance of supporters of corruption-suspected African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma, including threats to "kill" for him, and the ousting of ex-president Thabo Mbeki by the ANC, were further signs of a rise in intolerance and demagoguery.

Next door in Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe continued to defy the world while his country fell to pieces.

He smashed his way through two election defeats in March to claim victory in a solo presidential contest and refused to relinquish real power after being browbeaten by the African Union into a government of national unity.

With the number of cholera dead officially at 1,111 by December 15 and the number of hungry exceeding 5 million, Zimbabwe looked set for its cruellest Christmas yet.

Somalia, which has been plagued by chaos and civil war since the ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, also got steadily worse.

Islamist insurgents have been fighting the government since Ethiopian troops helped oust the Union of Islamic Courts in early 2007.

This year saw insurgent group al-Shabaab make major gains as the government descended into political infighting.

By December they had take many major towns, implementing strict Sharia law along the way, and advanced to the edge of the capital Mogadishu.

Aid agencies estimate that over 10,000 civilians have died since the insurgency began and almost 1 million have fled their homes, many from Mogadishu.

The crumbling government and some opposition figures have agreed to a ceasefire, but it has made little difference on the ground as al-Shabaab has rejected the deal.

Piracy has also flourished off Somalia as chaos reigns on the land, making the Gulf of Aden - a busy shipping route - the most dangerous place in the world for ships.

Over 40 ships have been seized this year, the most high-profile being Saudi supertanker the Sirius Star and its cargo of crude oilworth 100 million dollars.

As if all of this misery wasn't enough, the simmering conflict in the east of the DR Congo burst into life.

Fighting between Tutsi rebels and government troops exploded into full-scale conflict in October after beginning to ramp up in August.

Over 250,000 civilians have been displaced as a result of the clashes, and all combatants have reportedly been murdering and raping civilians and going on looting sprees.

Diplomatic efforts are underway to resolve the conflict, which appears to have settled down again, but fears remain that the 1998-2003 war, which ultimately killed over 5 million people, could be reignited.

With little hope of a quick resolution to the problems in Zimbabwe, Somalia and DR Congo, strife continuing in Sudan's restive Darfur province, and Nigeria struggling with political violence and continuing attacks by oil militants, 2009 could turn out to be almost as bad. (dpa)