Africa is now the continent most affected by terrorism. Each day, an average of eight terror attacks results in 44 deaths. In certain parts of the Sahel, Lake Chad Basin, the Horn of Africa and Mozambique, deadly violence is a near constant horror.
In particular, the Sahel has emerged as the global terrorism epicenter, accounting for 47% of all deaths from violent extremism. Terror groups have capitalized on the region’s poor governance, ethnic divisions, coups and fractured regional security partnerships. Heavy-handed responses by military-led governments and a reliance on unaccountable mercenaries have done little to contain the problem and might be making it worse. Over the past 15 years, terror attacks in the Sahel grew 1,266%, and terror deaths rose 2,860%. Burkina Faso is the most affected country, with deaths rising to 1,907 in 2023, accounting for a quarter of all global terrorism deaths.
As leaders look for answers, there is increased recognition that it will take a whole-of-society effort that addresses the root causes and drivers of extremism. These include poverty, land rights, ethnic grievances and poor governance.
In a speech to the High-Level African Counter-Terrorism Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat called for a new approach to addressing the “destructive phenomenon [that] is ravaging human lives, infrastructure and institutions.”
“An innovative approach is crucial,” Faki told attendees. “It should include a new model of financing the fight against terrorism, greater involvement of African institutions and the civil society actors. Those national institutions and the civil society, youths and women, in particular, should be supported by all means to play their irreplaceable role in fighting against terrorism and violent extremism.”
Faki said the fight must be led and funded by African nations. He told his audience there is no time to waste: “The time for concrete actions is now. The time for results is now. The time for speeches is over.”
The graphics and maps on the following pages give a visual sense of the scope of terrorism in Africa, related trends and efforts to stop it..
Spreading to the Coast
In search of new revenue sources, recruits and territory, Sahel-based terrorists are pushing to expand operations to coastal West Africa. The terror group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin believes it can make inroads among disaffected communities in Benin, northern Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo.
The number of violent events linked to militant Sahelian groups in and within 50 kilometers of coastal West African countries increased by more than 250% over the past two years, totaling more than 450 incidents.
Benin has been one of the coastal nations hardest hit by the violence, and its W National Park has become a haven for terror groups. The number of fatalities related to Islamist violence in Benin doubled to 173 in the past year, the Africa Center for Strategic Studies reported. The percentage of increased fatalities was similar in Togo, which recorded 69 deaths.
Coastal leaders are calling for unity and seeking outside help in the face of this growing threat.
“These conflicts are gradually wiping out years of progress and development for the populations,” Ivoirian Vice President Tiemoko Meyliet Koné said during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly. “Beyond the Sahel, today all of West Africa is threatened with collapse. This evolution could spread beyond the African continent if no effective measures are taken.”
The Islamic State Group Plants its Flag
As IS has lost territory in the Middle East in recent years, it has turned its attention to Africa. It now has affiliates in Mozambique, the Great Lakes region, Somalia, the Sahel and Nigeria. In the first half of 2024, IS claimed responsibility for 788 attacks globally. More than half –– 536 –– took place in Africa, killing 2,142 people.
Experts believe IS views Africa as the area of the world with the greatest potential to hold territory and launch destructive attacks. IS central is believed to be in regular contact with its affiliates and sends advisors and shares intelligence. In 2024, there were reports that the commander of IS-Somalia had been made the IS group’s global leader. He later was targeted in an airstrike, but his whereabouts are unknown.
“For an organization like ISIS, sub-Saharan Africa is where you can have a lot of impact with minimal [investment of] resources,” said Vincent Foucher, an expert on extremism with the French National Centre for Scientific Research. “This is one of the few places in the world where ISIS actually controls territory of many thousands of square kilometres. It’s a frontier for them.”
The Human Toll
Inevitably, the most vulnerable people pay the highest price in terror attacks that disrupt everything from school to energy to health services. Here is a snapshot of the devastating human toll caused by terrorism in Africa.
- In West Africa, almost 25,000 civilians were killed by terrorism and political violence from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2024. Civilians were 37% of all victims.
- Terrorism and political violence displaced 6.1 million people in West Africa in 2023.
- Terror responses led by military juntas tend to cause more civilian deaths than those led by civilian governments. In the year after its July 2023 coup, Nigerien defense and security forces killed three times as many civilians as the previous year, according to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data.
- Terrorist groups such as Boko Haram have specifically attacked health care facilities. Since the beginning of the insurgency, roughly one-third of the 700 health care facilities in Nigeria’s Borno State were destroyed, with another one-third left unable to operate. This lack of care led to increases in child mortality and a resurgence of treatable diseases, such as cholera, the measles and hepatitis E.
- There were more than 270 attacks on schools in Burkina Faso in 2022 and 2023. These attacks included abductions, destruction of buildings, and threats against parents and teachers. By spring 2023, 6,100 schools in the country were closed due to insecurity.
Regional Responses
Armed forces have launched a number of military missions to address terror threats in Africa. They operate under the banner of the United Nations, African Union, regional economic communities or as ad hoc alliances of national militaries. As the threat evolves and high-profile missions close, African leaders and their international partners are discussing what the future holds for interventions. Topics of debate include how multinational interventions should be constructed and funded and under what mandates they should operate.
