Political violence increased in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, where state forces were engaged in ongoing conflict with violent extremist groups.
“Armed conflict spilt over in West Africa, reportedly fuelling criminal groups and armed bandits, who sought to expand their areas of influence. At the same time, illicit economies, such as cattle rustling and kidnapping for ransom, continued to undermine stability in the region, illustrating the growing ‘geographic overlap between crime and conflict zones’.”
These conditions created an ideal environment for criminal markets and actors to flourish and extend their influence on the continent. Between 2019 and 2023, overall criminality in Africa rose from 4.97 to 5.25, increasing by 0.20 points between 2019 and 2021 and by 0.08 points since 2021.
“This notable difference in the overall criminality average highlights that while certain new criminal markets exhibit lower pervasiveness on the continent, many of the original criminality indicators are gaining a stronger foothold in Africa,” the report said.
It is still worthy of attention as some of the newly added indicators may expand in the following years and their impact is already notable in some contexts, it said.
It said the escalation of criminal activities across the continent emphasises the undeniable effects of organised crime on the stability of African states and the security of their citizens.
“Yet Southern Africa contains countries with some of the highest overall criminality scores on the continent, such as South Africa (7.18) and Mozambique (6.20).Therefore, to have a comprehensive understanding of the continent’s criminal landscape, it is important to explore the subcomponents of criminality, i.e. criminal markets and criminal actors at both continental and regional levels.”
TimesLIVE
Source link : https://www.timeslive.co.za/amp/news/south-africa/2023-11-24-criminality-has-risen-across-africa-crime-index-shows/
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Publish date : 2023-11-24 08:00:00
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