Development, COVID-19 and Terrorism in Africa

The development trajectory of Africa has been slowed down by a combination of factors including intra-state conflicts, terrorism, governance challenges and inappropriate economic policies. However, terrorism has a disproportionate impact on the development of the continent. This has been further exacerbated by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, which, together with transnational criminal activities, has wreaked havoc on the continent. Not only has this deadly combination caused massive socio-economic disruption, but it has caused the reduction in the inflow of foreign direct investments as foreign donors focus on their domestic challenges. This chapter analyses the nexus between terrorism and development, while also paying attention to the interplay between terrorism and transnational criminal activities with special focus on the inflows of illicit arms. The efforts of the international community to address these challenges are evaluated in order to ascertain if there are any prospects for relief or improvement of the prevailing challenges.