This archive report was first published on 7 December 2019.
Combating Violent Extremism in Africa ¶
Violent extremism remains an existential threat to emerging democracies in Africa. Two recent events have highlighted the need for new strategies to combat this menace.
On December 6, 2019, al-Shabaab terrorists attacked a Mandera-bound bus in Wajir, killing at least eight people. This attack came barely a year after the al-Qaeda-affiliated group attacked the DusitD2 Complex in Nairobi, killing over 20 people in January 2019.
These attacks demonstrate that violent extremism is alive and well in the Horn of Africa. Globally, terrorist groups carried out a total of 11,072 attacks in 2016, resulting in 25,621 deaths and 33,814 injuries.
The IGAD Centre of Excellence in Preventing and Countering Violence Extremism (ICEPCVE) held its First Annual Horn and East Africa regional research conference on preventing and countering violent extremism in Nairobi on December 4-6, 2019. The conference highlighted the importance of research in defeating violent extremism.
Research is critical in responding to the new wave of violent extremism sweeping across the region. The African Regional Conference held in Nairobi in July 2015 called on governments to prioritize research to drive an evidence-based fight against violent extremism.
However, strong institutions, networks, and strategies at the national and regional levels are needed to drive research. The IGAD Centre has taken the mantle of pan-Africanism and established a regional architecture and strategy to combat the threat of violent extremism.
On April 25, 2018, the centre became the first regional organisation to develop a comprehensive regional strategy to prevent and counter violent extremism. It also launched its Centre of Excellence in Preventing and Countering Violence Extremism (ICEPCVE) to implement the strategy and champion research on combating extremism in the Horn of Africa.
The centre has emerged as a regional thought leader on violent extremism. However, it must adopt strategies to support regional researchers, think-tanks, and academic institutions to develop expertise, knowledge, and coordination capacities to wrest control of knowledge production on violent extremism from external players.
The centre has formed a new research network of think-tanks from the region to be hosted by the Nairobi-based Horn Institute. This network will play a crucial role in developing expertise and knowledge on violent extremism in the region.
Researchers must unearth the underlying causes of violent extremism. The region is experiencing the spill-over effects of geopolitical rivalries in the Middle-East, and the Horn is exposed to waves of terrorism due to its proximity to fast-changing theatres of conflict.
The IGAD Centre on Violent Extremism must hone its capabilities to coordinate research across the region. Knowledge is power, and the centre must carry the torch of research in the Horn region.
