The US Country Reports on Terrorism paints a sobering picture of how fragile states, prolonged insurgencies, and shifting regional alliances have allowed extremist networks to thrive, even as African governments intensify military campaigns and strengthen international partnerships to stem the tide of terrorism.
In the report, the U.S. Department of State identified several regions across Africa, including the Sahel, northern Mozambique, Somalia, Sudan, and the Lake Chad Basin, as terrorist safe havens, pointing to weak governance, instability, and prolonged insecurity as key enablers of violent extremism.
According to the report, terrorist safe havens are “ungoverned, undergoverned, and ill-governed physical areas where terrorists can organize, plan, raise funds, communicate, recruit, train, transit, and operate in relative security because of inadequate governance capacity, political will, or both.”
The State Department’s findings suggest that Africa’s expanding ungoverned territories continue to provide operational space for extremist groups affiliated with al-Qa’ida and ISIS.
The Sahel region, spanning Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, remains the epicenter of terrorist activity on the continent. Groups such as Jama’at al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) and ISIS-Sahel (formerly ISIS in the Greater Sahara) have entrenched themselves in central Mali and northern Burkina Faso, exploiting political transitions and military coups.
The withdrawal of French troops and the closure of the UN peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA) in Mali have further weakened counterterrorism capabilities, enabling militants to expand operations into Nigeria, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and Togo.
AES tensions and Nigeria’s contested role in regional security
The security situation in the Sahel has also been politicised by deepening tensions between the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), comprising Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso and neighbouring Nigeria.
Abuja swiftly dismissed the allegations as “baseless and inflammatory,” reaffirming its commitment to regional stability and the fight against terrorism.
The Nigerian government has strongly rejected these claims, describing them as misleading and unfair characterisations of its internal security challenges, which include combating both Islamist insurgents and communal militias.
Africa’s divided front against terrorism
Analysts warn that the fragmentation of regional security frameworks, particularly following the AES withdrawal from ECOWAS, has weakened coordinated counterterrorism efforts.
While the AES bloc works to establish its own joint defense framework, its deepening ties with Russia and estrangement from Western partners have disrupted intelligence cooperation across the region, where neighboring states now align with competing security and intelligence networks.
Elsewhere, Mozambique and Kenya continue to make incremental progress against ISIS-linked groups and al-Shabaab, respectively, while instability in Sudan and across the Lake Chad Basin sustains fertile ground for extremist resurgence.
North Africa’s border issues
The report also identified southern Libya as a zone of concern, noting that while neither the Government of National Unity (GNU) nor the Libyan National Army (LNA) provides sanctuary to terrorist organizations, both struggle to fully secure the country’s porous southern borders.
The U.S. assessment highlighted that Libya’s vast desert terrain remains vulnerable to infiltration by extremist groups transiting from the Sahel, highlighting the country’s continuing need for international assistance to prevent its territory from being used for terrorist activities or the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction.
The State Department’s report concludes that while no African government directly supports terrorism, widespread insecurity, political mistrust, and weakened cooperation have created a patchwork of vulnerabilities, deepening the continent’s struggle against extremist violence.
