As the third decade of the twenty-first-century progressed midway, Africa witnessed exponential rise in terrorist aggressions, transforming the continent to the Centre of Gravity for global terrorism. While the world focused on the Middle East and Asia, the Al Qaeda and Islamic State expanded in the continent of Africa. Terrorism in Africa suddenly reached unprecedented high threatening both government and their citizens. This chapter provides a tacit background to the trends and dynamics of terrorism in Africa. It identifies the key historical milestones in its evolution and offers explanations for the push-pull factors that sustain terrorism across the continent. It further reflects on counterterrorism engagements in Africa and notes that while terrorism has stimulated regional and international cooperation, it has also fostered diplomatic rows at bilateral and multilateral levels within Africa and between African states and major world powers. The severance of diplomatic relations between Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger with their erstwhile colonial France and the forced closure of United States military bases in Niger remains instructive. The consequences of terrorism in Africa are further buttressed by the emergence of a new alliance of states in the Sahel which distorts the course of regionalism in West Africa. Finally, it concludes with a synopsis of each chapter.