By Antony Mutunga
Violent extremist groups have continued to wreak havoc in Africa as they increase their activities and grow in number due to instability and conflict in the continent. With unemployment a primary concern in Africa, even though the population is still increasing, many youths have been forced to find other ways of earning a living. According to a report launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), many have been driven to join fast-growing violent extremist groups.
The Journey to Extremism in Africa: Pathways to Recruitment and Disengagement report indicates that employment opportunities lead to individuals joining violent extremist groups. 25% of the 2,200 respondents (voluntary and forced) interviewed joined looking for greener pastures, while 22% joined because of friends and family who had already joined or were going to join.
The report, which pools respondents from eight African countries; Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, and Sudan, has seen a change in the primary reasons for joining when the 2023 report is compared to a similar report in 2017. In 2017 the main reason for joining was similar religious ideas (40%), followed by the need to want to be a part of a group or something bigger than oneself (16%), then belief in religious leaders and employment opportunities tied at third (13%).
In the recent report, religious ideas had dropped to the third reason why some have joined. Standing at 17%, it was a 57% decrease from the data from the 2017 report. Most respondents admitted to having limited knowledge of religion, playing a huge part in the decline.
The report also highlighted that conditions relating to geographic location, such as remoteness, are significant factors in shaping an individual’s life path, both in terms of upbringing and prospects and opportunities later in life. It was clear that most respondents grew up in some of the remotest and peripheral areas, with 62% growing up in villages and only 7% in cities.
48% of the respondents who voluntarily joined the extremist groups (630) also admitted that a prior incident had a hand in their decision to join. Out of about 200 of this group, 32% declared that a trigger event caused by actions by the government led them to decide, while 29% was due to the killing of a family member, and 19% was due to being offered a reward to join the group.
The report also indicates that those who decide to disengage from violent extremism are less likely to rejoin and recruit others. This is why it is important to invest in incentives to attract more people to leave the groups. Additionally, the report recommends greater investment in essential services, including child welfare; education; quality livelihoods; and investing in young men and women. Also, it calls for scaling-up exit opportunities and investment in rehabilitation and community-based reintegration services.
According to Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, Sub-Saharan Africa has become the new global epicenter of violent extremism, with 48% of global terrorism deaths in 2021. “This surge not only adversely impacts lives, security, and peace but also threatens to reverse hard-won development gains for generations to come. Security-driven counter-terrorism responses are often costly and minimally effective, yet investments in preventive approaches to violent extremism are woefully inadequate. States must reinvigorate social contract between themselves and citizens to tackle root causes of violent extremism,” he said.
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