Organized Crime Is Bolstering Terror Networks in Africa, Experts Warn

Intelligence operatives say the world ignores the threat at its peril.

Niger's soldiers patrol near Bosso following attacks by Boko Haram fighters in the region, in Nigel, on June 17, 2016. Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images

JOHANNESBURG—Terrorist and organized crime groups are “converging” in Africa, at a time when international anti-crime support is waning, and government policies on the continent range from “poor” to “nonexistent,” security analysts, terrorism experts, and current and former intelligence operatives say.

“We’ve got the West pouring money into supporting Ukraine against Russia, and that’s understandable. But at the same time, the world ignores the nexus between terrorism and organized crime in Africa, at its peril,” said Martin Ewi, coordinator of the Organized Crime Observatory at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria, South Africa.