Impact of terrorism in African progress

Gemechu Tussa

Many political and economic analysts argue that African is rising and the hope for African people to enjoy the light at the end of the tunnel seems to be inevitable. For instance, agenda 2063 is a promising plan to realize a paradigm shift in the continent. The pith of the agenda is creating an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa via exploiting all possible opportunities available in the continent to transform it within the next 50 years.

According to Africa Progress Report, the year 2015 is a turning point to African countries.  The emerging continent is said to explore five fundamental changes that have been underway in the emerging economies.

It is vivid that the plan is to ensure  more democratic and accountable governments; more sensible economic policies; the end of the debt and changing relationships with donors; the spread of new technologies as well as  the emerging of a new generation of policymakers, activists and business leaders.

In this regard, there is hope that Africa will progress well and achieve its targets in the coming fifty years. So far, seventeen African countries have been doing well in alleviating poverty. These emerging African countries that have been undergone dramatic changes in economic growth, poverty reduction, and political accountability since the mid-1990s are home to more than 300 million people.

The overall GDP growth of the continent in the past decade is exceeding 5 percent a year. That growth has powered a full 50 percent increase in average incomes in just 13 years.  The share of people living in poverty has declined from 59 percent to 48 percent.

Africa’s troubles have been, in large part, a failure of leadership. Too many leaders have ruled by intimidation, violence, and brute force. But in the 1980s, many authoritarian governments lost their legitimacy and the economic and financial resources to maintain control.

The five changes described above provide the foundation for continued success in the continent. However, the continent still faces several challenges, which includes the need to deepen democracy and strengthening governance, diversifying economies and creating more new economic opportunities for the workforce.

One of the most disastrous challenges the country been facing could be the impact of lack of peace and stability. In this regard, terrorism is at the pith of poisoning peace and stability in the Horn Region.  It has become a serious challenge in the continent that people should cooperate so as to meaningfully accomplish their poverty alleviation agenda via working industriously to enhance sustainable economic growth.  

In fact, this could be possible if and only if there is peace and stability in the entire continent. However, there are a number of terrorists groups like al-Shabab, IS, al-Qaeda, Ginbot 7 and OLF that have been poisoning the continent’s peace and stability.  

For instance, in the Horn Region, the Somalia-based terrorist group al-Shabaab remained the primary terrorist threat to the region’s peace and stability as well as the development of the country.  It has been mainly not only poisoning peace and stability in Somalia but also  the entire continent. Therefore, it retarded the continents development, which significantly impacted  the development of the continent.

Al-Shabaab continued to employ indirect assaults and asymmetric tactics in Somalia and claiming credits for some attacks amidst the efforts exerted by African Union to enhance domestic and regional efforts to bolster border security; investigate and prosecute terrorist incidents as well as create integrated, dedicated counterterrorism practices.

However, there are also countries in the continent working against the will of the continent.  Eritrea is one of the typical examples that have been under UNSC sanctions since December 2009 due to its backing terrorist groups both technically and financially. It called on the nation to cease arming, training and equipping armed groups and their members including al-Shabaab, that aim to destabilize the region.

Eritrea and other irresponsible states in the continent have been working against the will of the people. The people deserve peace, stability and economic development. The regional organization IGAD has also been attempting to bring countries in the region together for mutual development and economic integration.

Ethiopia is a member state of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development and participated actively in its Security Sector Program, which builds the capacity of its member states to mitigate, detect, and deter advances by terrorists. Ethiopia has remained being one of the active participants in the African counterterrorism efforts.

The consolidated efforts and achievement of economic progress in the continent is hopefully encouraging. It could further strengthen and alleviate poverty from the continent and build a strong fast sustainable economy.

However, this is only possible if and only if there is peace. There should be common understanding and equal contributions in the efforts exerted to realize lasting peace and stability in the continent. Unless all countries have similar understanding about peace in one country directly or indirectly affects the continent, the struggle for the flourishing of lasting peace, by no means, could be succeeded.

Unless there is understanding and cooperation for peace and mutual development, there might be challenges in ensuring lasting peace and building sustainable economic integration among all countries. African countries have experienced relatively high levels of terrorism, which is linked to the theory of deprivation.  The nature of terrorism in Africa is wide-ranging. The risk of less costly but escalating terrorism attacks in the more stable countries, combined with fragile states where terrorism is pervasive and entrenched, limits investment and economic growth.  

It is of paramount importance for African countries to come to their senses in comprehending the need to peace and work in collaboration. Africa is now drawing a lot of imvestment. Its economy has ever been rising. The capacity to solve conflicts has also began to develop. The African Union Mission in Somalia, South Sudan and other African countries indicated that the continent is developing in all social, economic and political aspects. But there are still a number of challenges.

One of the significant challenges as it is mentioned above is the differences among states in the continent. Some of the states in the continent have outrageous behaviors that have been plotting to create chaos and havoc in their neighboring countries. They even sponsor terrorist groups that have been killing innocent civilians. In some countries there is still need to political power using forces, without the vote of the public.

Besides, there are problems of good governance and widespread of rent collections and corruption in some African countries that lead to the failure of ensuring the political power of the people. Instead some governments in the continent still want to lead the people using guns. These challenges could poison the peace and stability of the continent that retards the overall development.  The impact of lack of peace and stability is so immense and that of terrorism is the worst.