Arms Trafficking and the Business of Rebellion in Sub-Saharan Africa

The thriving of religious terrorist groups such as The Lord's Resistance Army, Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO),  Al-Shabaab, etc., which are largely responsible for the spread of religious violence in Sub-Saharan Africa, is boosted by the illicit international arms trade that the international community has failed to take seriously enough in its quest for global security and peace. Torn between protocols and treaties couched in ideal terms and strategic or economic interests, the international community has failed to be consistent. This inconsistency is not only costing hundreds of thousands of lives, but also slowing down the so-called "global war on terror" across the African continent. Both state and non-state arms traders and traffickers are taking advantage of the market opacity to supply rebel movements and terrorist organizations. Unless the critical issue of the illicit international trade of arms becomes a priority on the agenda of policy makers, much of the efforts in trying to build peace on the African continent could prove ineffective. Unfortunately, progress on the part of world powers in tackling this issue has been quite slow. If we are serious about ridding Africa of armed conflicts, now is the time to take the bull by the horns.

Arm trafficking and terrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa 

The preamble of the United Nations Program of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects (UNPoA) clearly acknowledges "the close link between terrorism, organized crime, trafficking in drugs and precious minerals and the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons" and therefore underscores  "the urgency of international efforts and cooperation aimed at combating this trade simultaneously from both a supply and demand perspective." The proliferation of arms in Africa has been a longstanding threat to the security and the stability of states and the situation has worsened since the fall of Kaddafi, former Libyan president, prompting an ongoing heated debate in African circles as to whether this widely supported move by western powers was strategically beneficial for Africa. Even Jean Ping, former president of the Commission of the African Union, who was in office at the time of the coup against Kaddafi, joined the chorus of regrets two months ago through his controversial book entitled "Eclipse sur l'Afrique : fallait-il tuer Kadhafi? (Eclipse on Africa: Should Kadafi have been killed)" Most analysts agreed today that the dismantling of Kaddafi regime has benefited a good number of militia in the Sahel region, thereby boosting both arms trafficking and the rebellion business. This has not been good news for a number of countries in West, Central, and East Africa. The proliferation of rebels and terrorist movements in Northern Mali is a good illustration.

In the past three years Mali, the Central African Republic and Nigeria have been three primary test cases on the ability of African states to ensure the security of their national territories and people. Unfortunately in all three instances, national governments as well as regional and continental institutions have exhibited their weakness in dealing with the rebellion business threatening their people and their sovereignty.  The poverty and the politics of marginalization, rampant in many countries, constitute some of the main factors conducive to insurgencies. However, the wild proliferation of arms, hypocritically handled by the international community, is one very essential aspect of the problem.  Alex Vines, Director of regional and security studies at Chatham House (London), underscores the seriousness of the challenge particularly in West Africa: "These conflicts have been fuelled by a pool of young people frustrated by a lack of employment prospects and easy access to light weapons. Combating access to such weapons is important in any development efforts to support this fragile and troubled region. There are eight million illicit small arms and light weapons in West Africa, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)".

The rebellion business

The recent political history of Sub-Saharan Africa is fraught with rebel movements. In the decades of struggle for independence and for liberation from autocratic and oppressive regimes, rebel movements in most African countries embodied the aspiration of African peoples to freedom and dignity. Many African sons and daughters sacrificed their lives to break the yoke of colonization and dictatorships. In postcolonial Africa, rebel movements were also prompted or supported during the Cold War by both the US and the Soviet Union as they scrambled for ideological and economic hegemony. The end of the Cold War was followed by the wind of democratization which blew away a number of autocratic regimes, subsequently generating high hopes for a more stable and prosperous Africa. Unfortunately, the ongoing process of democratization has not halted the rise of rebel movements vying for political power. Since the 1990s, the struggle for democracy has been fraught with the rise of some of the bloodiest civil conflicts opposing insurgents to ruling regimes, resulting in the loss of millions of lives, and the deployment of expensive UN peace-keeping forces.

Although the failure of many regimes to address the real needs of people is conducive to insurgencies, one of the main reasons why armed rebellions still prosper in a number of sub-Saharan African countries is that they have become a lucrative business in many respects. For example, in countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), warlords have used rebellion to illegally exploit minerals and enrich themselves in the black market. It has also developed into a lucrative business for many arm traders: "According to the United Nations, the black market in arms trafficking generates on average US$240 million per year. This amounts to 10-20% of the legal arms market." Other illicit transactions include drugs, cigarettes and counterfeit medicine trafficking, in which religious terrorist organizations are highly involved, especially in West Africa and the Sahel.

How serious is the international community?

In 2001, the United Nations adopted The UN Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Illegal Trafficking in Firearms and Ammunition (UNFP) which is the first global instrument in the fight against transnational organized crime and trafficking of firearms. Although it has been in action since 2005, most world powers including China, the USA and Russia have not yet ratified it. Neither have they ratified the most recent United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) adopted in 2013 to regulate "the international trade in conventional arms, from small arms to battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships" and in so doing help to "keep warlords, pirates, and gangs from acquiring these deadly tools." At the continental level, both the African Union and Regional Economic Commissions have taken a number of initiatives aiming at eradicating the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons. For example in West Africa, one region of the continent most affected by this plague,  the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) adopted on the 31st of October 1998,  the world's first regional Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Light Weapons. It was subsequently replaced in 2006 by the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition and other Related Materials. However, these efforts have been thwarted by the failure of member states to comply fully as well as the lack of leadership from world powers on the issue. In spite of the good will of the African Union Peace and Security Council, "it remains constrained both by a severe lack of human and financial resources and by the varying political will and priorities of its members."

Conclusion

As the democratic culture grows on the African continent, rebel movements as a means of access to power should be discouraged. Zero tolerance should be enforced against rebel movements rising against democratically elected governments, such the case of South Sudan. Furthermore, rebel movements and terrorists groups thrive because they are harbored, financed, armed and supported by other countries. More can be done by the international community to discourage such an evil cooperation. Beyond national and regional policies, the leadership and cooperation of world powers is needed to intensify the fight against illicit trade of arms. Ratifying and enforcing the related international instruments would in the long run contribute not only to the stability in Africa, but also help the war in against  terrorism.

Dr. Ludovic Lado is a Southern Voices African Research Scholar with the Africa Program at The Wilson Center, and Director of the Institute of Human Rights and Dignity at the Centre de Recherche et d'Action poir la Paix (CERAP) in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.

Photo Credit: UN Photo/ Stuart Price