As armed groups increase their operations across the Sahel region, it has become clear that illicit economies play an important role in providing their operational resources, financing and legitimacy.
This seminar explores these linkages, focusing on kidnapping in northern Benin and the expansion of armed group activity into southern Mali. The role of illegal ‘accelerant markets’ that play the largest part in fuelling instability in the ECOWAS region will also be discussed.
Simultaneous English-French-Portuguese interpretation will be provided.
Moderator: Dr Maurice Ogbonnaya, Senior Fellow, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Nigeria
Opening remarks: ECOWAS, European Union, Germany and GIZ representatives
Panelists:
- Flore Berger, Senior Analyst, Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime (GITOC)
- Dr Aziz Mossi, Laboratory for Studies and Research on Social Dynamics and Local Development (LASDEL), Benin
- Dr Ndubuisi Christian Ani, Senior Researcher and Project Coordinator, ENACT, Institute for Security Studies
- Colonel Hassane Kone, Senior Researcher, Sahel, ISS Dakar
- Hamidou Diallo, Executive Director, Bureau of Studies on Extremism and community Conflicts in Africa, Mali
Image: © THOMAS SAMSON/AFP
