Security Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa

A socio-economic approach

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is geographically the African sub-continent that lies below the Sahara desert. In the literature, the term is frequently used as a way to distinguish the North from the rest of the continent for a cultural and geostrategic reason; SSA has been regarded as a homogenous zone, usually burdened by economic and political instabilities. Swept aside from the global scene, it is for a fact that little attention has been paid on the regional challenges.

On that account, the current article attempts, in the first place, to shed light on the socioeconomic disparities of the region; in the second place, to show off the security challenges that SSA encounters.

An introduction to the Sub-Saharan Africa societies

Among the poorest regions in the world, Sub-Saharan Africa is coping with long-term challenges: poverty, gender inequality, internal conflicts, environmental degradation and democratic deficit. Up to 41% of the Sub-Saharan Africans live in extreme poverty according to UNDP, while 26% of the refugee population is hosted in SSA. Still, figures are on the constant rise owing to the ongoing crisis in Nigeria, Central Africa and South Sudan or due to new conflicts in Burundi and Yemen (UNHCR).

However, the African subcontinent presents a significant diverse over its cultural, historical and socio-economical context. Covering a vast area of 21.2 million square kilometres between 45 countries, SSA has the highest population growth rate in the world. In 2010, the population amounted to 815 million and by 2030 is projected to reach 1.3 billion, almost 15.7% of the world’s population. Based on 2010, Nigeria comes as the largest country in population with 158 million while Seychelles has the smallest population reaching the 85,000 residents (UNESCO, 2011).

Following the fall of the colonial regime in Africa, most SSA countries became independent during the 1960s. Since 2011, South Sudan has been the newest independent country in Sub-Saharan Africa

In democratic terms, two of the three newly emerged democracies worldwide belong to the SSA region: Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria. Among 49 countries, only 18% of them hold a free status: Senegal, Ghana, Benin, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa (Freedom House, 2016). In addition, political systems vary from a smooth transition to legitimate elections such as in Burkina Faso and Tanzania; to the extension of stay in power: Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The divide between North and Sub-Saharan Africa

The geographical term Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) indicates the African countries found below the Saharan desert excluding Sudan. This term draws a line between Northern Africa and the rest of the continent (United Nations Statistics Division, 2013). The separation of Northern and sub-Saharan Africa is more due to international relations literature and less a strict classification of cultural difference between North and South. In the post-colonial era, African states have gained their independence, whereas North African countries are evolving around Arab unity (Bentahar, 2011).

The two distinct ideologies of Pan-Africanism and Pan-Arabism have widened the gap between the two regions; on one hand, a pan-African movement that promotes the African unity in sub-Saharan Africa; on the other hand, Pan-Arabism brings the region of North Africa closer to the Arab-Moslem identification of the Middle East.

Often, the area of North Africa is also known as Maghreb or Maghrib, meaning “West” in Arabic, the area between Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, where the Islamic culture is really prevalent. However, it is still apparent that both movements are still blended in the North as signs of continental cooperation and bond.

Economic trends and challenges

Over the last decade, the region has marked a robust growth; the manufacturing service industry is flourishing and a new middle class has emerged. In addition, the African Economic Community (AEC) has accelerated its regional integration and trade. On the other hand, the increasing reliance on SSA on the global market shows that the area is not immune to external shocks. In 2008, the financial crisis lowered the flow of remittances and foreign investment towards Africa. In 2015, economic activity dropped to its lowest levels in some 15 years and is expected to fall further this year with some variations from country to country.

Nearly half of the 45 countries in the region are falling into an economic downturn. Meanwhile, one-third or less of countries show remarks of stability or robust growth. These countries are mainly oil importers that were benefited from the low oil prices and the investment in the domestic infrastructure: Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and Senegal. Yet, others have successfully recovered from internal conflicts such as the Central African Republic.

As a matter of fact, the worsening of external conditions had a heavy impact on the African economy. First of all, the IMF warned that no improvement is anticipated in the global growth for this year (IMF, 2016). Second, the recent Chinese recession has majorly affected the African trade, as China is the main source of foreign investment and capital flow in SSA. Next, the tight US monetary policy has caused so much volatility in the financial markets with a major spillover in the emerging economies. Also, the sharp decline in commodity prices has hit the African oil exporters, Angola and Nigeria. Finally, economic instability in Europe has slowed down the demand for African commodities, which can be translated as a cut of European capital flows and development aid towards Africa.

In the regional level, the subcontinent’s economy suffered from natural disasters, health deterioration and violence. A severe drought in South and East Africa caused food insecurity for nearly 40 million people, which worsened the national budget. As IMF warns, dry conditions will continue for 2016-2017 and may trigger further displacements or migration. Another major economic barrier was the spread of Ebola; the economies of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are still recovering from the epidemic.

Finally, violence in Central Africa and the Sahel Belt has been dramatically increased since 2011. Typically, terrorism hinders trade and investment, while increases the public spending for security reasons and adds extra costs to the national budget. In Nigeria, the number of victims has reached the top three of the world victims after Iraq and Afghanistan. The country has also seen the violent attacks of Boko Haram, which is also active in the neighbouring countries: Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Kenya. Similar activities have emerged in the Sahel Belt; in Mali, the Islamist militant group Ansar Al-Dine is still present. Also, in Somalia, al-Shabaab fights the government and the peacekeeping forces. Hence, the current situation rings the alarm for the global community that more terrorist activities may unfold in the near future.

Internal conflicts and civil wars

Civil wars and tensions are frequent phenomena in Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite its ample natural resources, the unequal distribution of land and wealth among the population is responsible for the high poverty levels, which causes endogenous conflicts. Given that African societies are agrarian, land ownership plays an important role in the survival of its population. Thus, the limited access of the majority of its people in the agricultural land causes agitation among the locals. As Sekeris suggests, land inequality is intertwined with the political instability that feeds violence and pushes the poor classes to fight.

Another explanation for the civil conflicts in SSA lies in the artificial borders that colonizers imposed in Africa. In fact, the transnational ethnic linkages between African states have caused serious conflicts in the same way that different tribes have been split within the newly established African countries. The frequency of the armed conflicts in the area may lead to further escalation of the violence with possible transmission across their national borders (Carmignani and Kler, 2014). A few examples of interstate conflicts in the African history are the Rwandan Civil War that triggered the First Congo War in 1996 or the First Liberian Civil War between 1989 and 1996, which gave rise to Sierra Leone’s rebel army.

In terms of state fragility in SSA, Bertocchi and Guerzoni show that it is the colonial history, to some extent, and for the most part, the African institutions per se responsible for the current economic and political weakness. Corruption and governance failure scourge most of the African countries; South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria rank among the worst-performing countries against corruption. In the absence of collective trust, incidents of bribing are on the rise in these societies; in fact, people cease to think as a group and act more as individuals. According to Shaxson, this principle distinguishes the societies between rich and poor. According to Transparency International and the AfroBarometer, Liberia has seen the highest levels of bribery in the area.

Peacekeeping following the internal conflicts

Traditionally, peacekeeping aims to solve the conflict between the warring parties with diplomatic ways; it is often followed after the ceasefire with the permission of the host country. Thus, peacekeeping forces are playing the role of the intermediary that helps the two parties to reach an agreement and prevent further conflict recurring.

In the aftermath of the Cold War, African forces increased significantly their peacekeeping operations; the most recent missions of the African Union (AU) are those in Somalia and Sudan in response to the conflict in Darfur. Surprisingly, weak economies such as Ethiopia, Ghana and Nigeria mainly contribute to the regional peacekeeping missions as a way to protect the status quo in the area (Victor, 2010).

Currently, the United Nations are carrying nine out of the sixteen global peacekeeping operations in Africa. This fact largely reflects the severity of the tension in Africa and the need for further reinforcements. More specifically, the UN operations can be spotted in Liberia (UNMIL); Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI); South Sudan (UNMISS); Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); Mali (MINUSMA); Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

Beyond this point, the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) monitors the borders between South Sudan and Sudan, where the oil-rich area of Abyei causes frictions between the two countries. Finally, in the region of eastern Sudan, Darfur, the African Union in partnership with the United Nations (UNAMID) provides humanitarian assistance in the conflicted community.

Conclusions

It is obvious that the Sub-Saharan countries are quite diverse in their history, culture and economy. Divided between democratic and autocratic regimes, failed and free states, these African countries have all been affected to some extent by the global and regional challenges. Poverty, corruption, high population growth rate, internal conflicts, natural disasters and the spread of diseases are some of the regional challenges plaguing the area.

On a global level, local exports and trade have heavily relied on the global market; the recent shocks in China’s economy, the tight US monetary policy, the oil price drops and the rise of terrorism have deepened further the existing disparities in SSA.

What’s left to see is how the international community will react to these instabilities beyond United Nations humanitarian aid? The vicinity of Sub-Saharan Africa with Europe and North Africa shows that regional challenges are not irrelevant to the international community and may have an immediate in the neighbouring area such as massive flows of refugees and migrants, increase in terrorist attacks and proliferation of jihadist groups in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Photo: Peggy Marco, Sub-Saharan Africa (2006). Source: (pixabay.com) | (CC0 Public domain)

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