Impact of Terrorism on Africa

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Abstract

Terrorism is the act of causing harm and fear to innocent citizens in a certain region in order for terrorists to acquire minerals in an unethical way. Terrorism has caused negative effects such as loss of lives, economic disruption, displacement and humanitarian crisis, political instability weak governance and breakdown of education. Loss of lives has caused many people to lose their loved ones in unexpected situations. Africa`s economy is falling at a high rate since most of the allocated to war leaving the businesses and investments of the country at stake. Displacement and humanitarian crises as seen in most countries had to be hosts to accommodate refugees who were escaping their motherland making the hosting overstrain their resources. Political instability and weak governance are highly affected by terrorism since most of the money will be allocated to the military to defend the country leaving other sectors without budget allocation. Breakdown of education.as many young ambitious scholars had to take a break due to the unsafe environment caused by terrorism. Terrorism has to be taken seriously action if Africa is willing to grow and bring back its positive status.

Introduction

In a beautiful motherland of Africa where there is evergreen vegetation and a voluminous water level lies the danger of terrorism which has distracted its peace and harmony. Effects of terrorism refer to the wide-ranging consequences and impacts that acts of terrorism have on individuals, societies, governments, and the global community. The paper shall discover the effects of terrorism which include loss of lives, economic disruption, displacement and humanitarian crisis, political instability weak governance and breakdown of education.

Loss of lives

Many innocent Africans lost their precious lives due to the terrorists who invaded Africa and also to families losing their beloved ones.

(Jonathan & Mohammed, 2019, p. 70)

In 2017, Al-Shabaab carried out a series of major terrorist attacks and one such attack occurred on October 4, 2017, which marked the date Somalia suffered the deadliest attack since Al-Shabaab was established. More than 300 people were killed and hundreds injured when a truck bomb exploded in the middle of Mogadishu near the Safari Hotel (CNN Library, 2017). In addition, on September 28, 2017, a car-improvised explosive device killed 15 people in the Hamarweyne area. Furthermore, five folks were also killed in a mortar assault in Wardhigley on April 18, 2017, and also, 15 people were killed during a car bombing near the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense in Somalia (CNN Library, 2017). On 19 February 2017, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack occurred in a busy market in the Madina area of Mogadishu, killing 40 people. The Kenyan Security Forces camp in Kulbiyow, close to the Kenyan border, was also attacked by Al-Shabaab fighters, of which 50 were killed on 27 January 2017. Furthermore, another 20 persons were also attacked on the 2nd of February 2017 at the Peace Hotel near the capital, Mogadishu, specifically the International Airport by a car bomb. Also, in 2011, a truck full of explosives entered the government building in Mogadishu, killing more than 70 people and injuring 150 where the most victims were pupils registering with their guardians for the Turkish educational program ((CNN Library, 2017). Despite all these felonious attacks carried out on Somalia's soil, they further extended their deadly terrorist acts to surrounding countries including Kenya and Uganda. Terrorism has caused many families to lose their loved ones and left many emotional and sorrowful.

Economic disruption

Most African countries experienced economic disruption such as inflation and slow economic growth.

According to Tahir (2020)

In recent years, the world has been plagued by terrorism which has slowed down economic growth and development across countries. This paper focuses on the terrorism-affected countries to determine what actually causes terrorism. The paper utilized a comprehensive sample of 94 countries from 2005 to 2016 and employed suitable econometric techniques to estimate the specified models. The results revealed that low per capita income and political instability are the main driving forces behind prevalent terrorism. Similarly, the growths of both physical as well as human capital have reduced terrorism whilst inflation and government consumption have positively influenced terrorism. The role of military expenditures is observed to be dual as it impacted terrorism negatively in Muslim countries and positively in non-Muslim countries. Decreased corruption is found to be insignificant for the sample as a whole but appears to have a negative impact on terrorism when the sample is divided between Muslim and non-Muslim countries. The robustness exercise has also revealed similar findings. Lastly, we found bidirectional causality between political instability and terrorism, political instability and corruption, government consumption and inflation and the growth of GDP per capita and the growth of physical capital stock. The paper suggests that countries where terrorism is on the rise shall focus on increasing the income of the population, education, and capital stock along with ensuring political stability to eradicate the problem of terrorism. This has caused most Africans to suffer inflation, poverty and over-dependence in international countries.

Displacement and Humanitarian Crisis

A huge number of Africans were forced to evacuate from their motherland to a safer region till further notice making the region occupied to overstrain resources to accommodate the refugees. (Williams, 2019, p.8)” Criminal and extremist groups (e.g., ISIS, JNIM) profit from human smuggling ($550M–$1B annually). Humanitarian costs: High mortality rates, exploitation in transit, and strain on host communities (e.g., Uganda hosts 726,000 South Sudanese refugees).” The hosting countries therefore strain resources and the refugees face fear in the hosted countries.

Political Instability and Weak Governance

Terrorism has caused many Africans to face political instability and weak governance causing most businesses to fail more so in the agricultural sector.

Asongu et al (2020)

We test the hypotheses that fundamental characteristics in regional proximity, landlockedness, religious domination, legal origin, and income levels affect cross-country differences in the persistence of political terror and political instability in 163 countries for the period 2010–2015. The empirical evidence is based on the generalized method of moments. The hypotheses are that the following are associated with comparatively higher levels of persistence in political terror and political instability: regions with predominantly low-income countries (Hypothesis 1); landlockedness (Hypothesis 2); Christian orientation (Hypothesis 3); French civil law (Hypothesis 4); and Low income (Hypothesis 5). The tested hypotheses are largely invalid. Only Hypotheses 5 and 2 are robustly investigated in the light of concerns about instrument proliferation. Hypothesis 2 is valid for political terror but not for political instability while Hypothesis 5 is neither valid for political instability nor for political terror. Political instability can cause many businesses to fall and weak governance can cause the country`s economy to fall.

Breakdown of Education

The educational sector has suffered heavily due to the terrorism involved in Africa causing many scholars to pause for a while for the environment to be safe.

Danzelle et al. (2020)

Policymakers often tout expanded access to education as an antidote for terrorism in Africa. Targeted economic development is also considered a necessary complement to education gains because young, well-educated individuals who lack viable opportunities are vulnerable targets of radicalization. Despite common assertions that poor socioeconomic circumstances drive radicalization, empirical research has hitherto neglected critical inquiry into these policies. Varied findings across cross-national studies of education expansion and the effects of burgeoning youth cohorts warrant a focused examination of regions plagued by the proliferation of extremist groups. This study explores the role of education in mitigating a turn to terror among youth in Africa by examining 50 countries from 1970 to 2011. Expansions in primary, secondary, and tertiary education appear to have different influences on domestic terrorism. In the sub-Saharan region, one model shows primary and secondary education reduced terrorism while others indicate non-monotonic effects in societies experiencing a youth bulge. These nuanced findings suggest education should not be relied upon to counter extremism without additional initiatives to facilitate socioeconomic opportunities. The implication of this paper’s findings is important for academics and policymakers’ eager to create stable policies across the African continent. Terrorism has negatively affected education affecting scholars' chances to acquire education rights.

Conclusion

Terrorism can be seen has caused negative effects on Africa causing effects such as loss of lives, economic disruption, displacement and humanitarian crisis, political instability and weak governance and breakdown of education. Terrorism should be taken heed off otherwise it will cause Africa`s growth to slow and hence will cause Africa to lag behind as compared to other continents.

References

Afriyie, F. A. (2019). Terrorism and its Negative Effects on Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Al-Shabaab. European Scientific Journal ESJ, 15, 63-77.

Asongu, S. A., Uduji, J. I., & Okolo‐Obasi, E. N. (2020). Political instability and political terror: Global evidence on persistence. Journal of Public Affairs, 20(3), e2119.

Danzell, O. E., Yeh, Y. Y., & Pfannenstiel, M. (2020). Does education mitigate terrorism? Examining the effects of educated youth cohorts on domestic terror in Africa. Terrorism and political violence, 32(8), 1731-1752.

Tahir, M. (2020). Terrorism and its determinants: panel data evidence from 94 countries. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 15(1), 1-16.

Williams, W. (2019). Shifting borders: Africa's displacement crisis and its security implications. Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies.