Over the last decade, Saharan Africa has been cemented as an equally troublesome region as the Middle East itself. Last year’s attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya may have come as a shock to American citizens aware only of conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Palestine, but this is certainly not a new trend.

Terrorist groups in Africa have expanded their reach in the last decade under the umbrella of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM). These groups across the Sahel pose a “large and existential threat,” according to UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

On paper these Islamist groups differ in religious motivation from separatist factions that fight for recognition of and rights for specific people groups, but in practice these radical groups often provide an outlet for discontent. Members of both kinds of groups, however, share similar characteristics: those who hold reactive ideologies, those who are financially influenced into working with militant groups, and those who take advantage of security vacuums to spread these groups cross-continent.

Security Vacuums

One of the biggest contributors to terrorist groups gaining influence in Africa is security vacuums – lack of a secure state authority capable of enforcing rule of law. In the Central African Republic last year, for example, a Chadian armed group stood almost completely unchallenged by national defense forces, instead facing much of its opposition from CAR militant groups.

Many governments in the region are unwilling or unable to fight these transnational terrorist groups. Resentment against Western influence exists, especially due to what the Economist calls “a reflexive revulsion at intervention by former colonial powers.”

To make matters worse, the landscape of the Sahel does not make enforcing borders easy. Furthermore, even when the host country has a military force to combat these militant groups, the landscape in much of the Sahel proves prohibitive. For example, Nigerian forces that are “big and well-equipped” have “little idea how to fight in the desert,” according to the Economist.

Income Disparity and Corruption

Former UN diplomat and security expert Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah argues that networked militancy flourishes in northern Africa in significant part due to “the perceived arrogance and corruption of urban elites.” Income disparity — the difference between the incomes of the rich and the poor — causes unrest and alienation of lower classes.

Minority communities — made minority either by class or by ethnic grouping — are often marginalised. According to researchers Tim Krieger and Daniel Meierrieks, empirical findings suggest “a positive and highly significant relationship” between income inequality and terrorism. “This suggests,” Krieger and Meierrieks write, “that economic grievances related to income inequality are conducive to the product of violent terrorism.”

Unemployment also drives many to violence by pushing them toward “any economic opportunity that they have,” Malian think-tank director Mohamed Coulibaly said. This includes joining the ranks of paid militancy or, as some suspect is a partial source of revenue for terrorist groups, drug trafficking. Sometimes these militants kidnap for ransom. “It’s nothing to do with an ideology — we’re just here to make money,” conflict resolution specialist Kalie Sillah quotes Mali militants as saying.

Infrastructure Void

The economic disadvantage experienced by would-be militants in the Sahel is significantly contributed to by the lack of – or unequal – development in the region, both foreign and domestic. Richard Joseph, nonresident senior fellow at the Africa Growth Initiative, writes that while African economies may exhibit successful economic growth, they do not exhibit the same amount of unity and political progress; in the Foresight Africa Report 2013, he gives the example of Ghana and Mali, two countries that share similar GDP growth but vastly different levels of sustainable development.

As rapid economic growth pads the pockets of politicians — in many cases due to high-return extraction industries — in some countries this profit never reaches the people in the form of infrastructure: local governments, road and irrigation improvements, rural education, and health system reform. Instead, the money is often spent on pet projects that yield political but not economic returns. John Mbaku of the Africa Growth Initiative writes, “Today African countries have a serious deficit in the type of essential infrastructure that usually forms the foundation for significant improvements in agricultural productivity.”

In the Africa Competitiveness Report 2013, the World Economic Forum proposed that increased infrastructure would also improve intra-continent trade, thus providing more economic opportunity for adjacent nations to export and import goods and services. Though economic opportunities do not resolve ethnic or sectarian conflicts, they can provide sorely needed jobs to unemployed individuals who would otherwise be lured into drug trafficking or militancy.

The lack of physical infrastructure also can contribute to the ease of foreign groups crossing international borders. The isolated villages and rural regions that militant groups thrive in are not just difficult to get to; they are difficult to find in the first place.

Development and Poverty Eradication as a Solution

The United Nations recognizes that part of combating global terrorism is addressing potential causes. For this reason, the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy — adopted by member states in 2005 and reaffirmed a number of times — contains as its first pillar the resolution “to address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism.” The advancement of the Millennium Development Goals is a cornerstone of anti-terrorism strategy.

Yonah Alexander of the Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies writes that addressing terrorism in Africa requires investment in security “by accelerating national and regional economic development.” These investments include expansion of foreign aid, workforce development programs, and streamlining support from foreign assistance-providing countries. Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Masood Khan spoke to the UN Security Council last month, insisting that addressing terrorism requires addressing common factors of poverty, ethno-sectarian disputes, and marginalization.

The UN Counter-Terrorism Strategy recognizes that none of the conditions of unemployment, marginalization, security vacuums, or lack of infrastructure “can excuse or justify acts of terrorism.” The contributing factors to terrorist recruitment, however, remain a grave concern. Advancing the Millennium Development Goals — whether through direct economic assistance or through development programs that equip host countries to help themselves — can reduce the marginalization and victimization that propel many towards violent terrorism.

– Naomi Doraisamy
Source: BBC,Foresight Africa 2013,Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies,Social Science Research Network,The Economist,The Nation
Photo: Moon of the south