ISIS strengthens presence in Central Africa due to security weakness

Nahla Abdel Moneim

ISIS is relying on its branches in Africa to promote its power in international expansion, especially its alleged state in Central Africa, where it achieves an influential presence for its elements in the region, threatening foreign investments, as well as paving the way for other expansions.

The Central Africa branch is achieving the organization’s efforts to reach more expansions in the region due to the decline in the training and arming capabilities of the security forces, which gives ISIS the ability to carry out terrorist operations deep inside, leaving a greater number of victims and in turn using them to paint mental pictures of the worsening of its presence in the region, along with through the organization’s media platforms to further promote its presence and attract more elements to its ranks as the most active terrorist organization.

The countries of Central Africa carry within them a prominent variable that ISIS has always used as part of its expansionist goals, which is the sectarian conflict that the organization employs to its advantage, targeting Christians in the region to deepen the crisis and focus on factors of societal discord rather than consensus.

Central Africa’s resources and terrorist groups’ greed

The Central African region has great wealth that is coveted by terrorist groups, which require money to spend on their needs for weapons and logistical support, as well as to pay the salaries of the elements. The book “Terrorist Financing: The Failure of Counter Measures”, prepared by Nicholas Ridley, former British Minister of Trade and Industry, and Nick Ridley, an intelligence analyst in the British police’s counterterrorism team, points out that money is the most important aspect in the triangle of terrorism, before human elements, weapons and ammunition. The book adds that money is also used in the purchase of weapons and contributes to recruiting elements and meeting their living needs.

The rich mines are among the most prominent natural resources of the region, as diamond exports in the Central African Republic amount to about 40% of the total exports of the country, which ranks 14th in the world in terms of rough diamond production, while 60% of the global production of cobalt ore comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a report published by the Guardian on October 12, 2018.

Security vulnerabilities and expansion platforms

The security weakness in the region contributes to the expansion of ISIS regionally to establish points of concentration that enable the organization to achieve its goals, in addition to giving it the ability to build training camps, taking advantage of the decline of state systems as well as the environmental dimensions.

Regarding the consequences of security weakness in the region, Ali Bakr, a researcher on extremist movements at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said that the weak borders of African countries and the declining capabilities of their security services have made them an easy target for terrorist groups.

Bakr noted in a statement to the Reference that the increased activity of ISIS during recent years in Africa is a reflection of the fierce competition with al-Qaeda in the region. He added that Central Africa suffers from escalating problems over sectarian and political conflicts, which in turn serves the exacerbation of ISIS in the region, in addition to the natural resources that the region enjoys, which are coveted by extremist groups and those who support them among the major entities that seek to plunder the peoples’ resources.