The surge of terrorist activity in parts of the African continent, particularly in conflict areas in the Central Sahel and West Africa, and mounting concerns about the spread of terrorism into coastal west African States, have placed terrorism in Africa firmly on the global counter-terrorism agenda.
This week at the Global Security Forum in Doha, organized by The Soufan Group, Chief of Branch of the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), David Scharia, moderated a panel of speakers to address this. The panelists, comprising researchers and academics from across Africa, discussed the evolving security situation and the factors exacerbating the terrorism threat in different parts of the continent.
The panel included former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Burkina Faso, Djibrill Bassolé; North-West University extraordinary professor, Anneli Botha; Deputy Director of the African Centre for Studies and Research on Terrorism, Idriss Mounir Lallali; and Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime researcher, Ornella Moderan.
The panelists outlined the motivations of terrorist groups, particularly in the Sahel and East Africa, and discussed a range of trends and issues, including governance, transactional crimes, local conflict, gendered propaganda and over-militarized responses fueling radicalization. During the panel discussion, CTED also highlighted some of the latest research of GRN members.
Watch the full discussion .