(New York, N.Y. / Berlin, Germany) – The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) invite you to a webinar on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, focusing on deteriorating security situation in West Africa and the Sahel region.
This webinar is the first in a series of virtual events in which CEP and KAS present the results of a joint project focusing on the region. The project analyzes the various aspects of the complex security environment and develops policy options to mitigate these challenges for regional as well as international policymakers, including at the European Union level.
West Africa and the Sahel region have experienced a steady decline in stability in parallel with a growth in terrorism threats for several years. The key regional terrorist networks—the al-Qaeda affiliated coalition Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin' (JNIM) and the two affiliates of the Islamic State (IS), IS West Africa Province and IS in the Greater Sahara—have grown significantly since the destruction of the so-called califate of IS in Iraq and Syria and the significant reduction of territorial control of the terrorist group in both countries. In West Africa and the Sahel, terrorist groups and networks exploit ethnic differences, exacerbating intercommunal violence, and are intertwined with transnational organized crime complicating an already fragile situation.
This first webinar will focus on two aspects that are crucial counterterrorism challenges: the cooperation between various terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda and IS with transnational organized crime networks in the region and the potential cooperation between various terrorist groups across the region and Africa.
The webinar will be conducted in English via Zoom.
Date: Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Time: 8:00 a.m. ET / 14:00 CET to 9:30 am ET / 15:30 CET
EVENT PROGRAM:
Opening Remarks:
David Ibsen
Executive Director, Counter Extremism Project (CEP)
Dr. Stefan Friedrich
Head of the Department Sub-Saharan Africa, Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS)
Presentations:
Interlinkage of Terrorism and Transnational Organized Crime in West Africa
Theo Clement
Expert on illicit economies and trade based in Nouakchott, Mauritania
Linkages of Terrorist Groups in West Africa with Terrorist Networks in other African Regions
Dr. Ini Dele-Adedeji
Research Associate at the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London (SOAS)
Sofia Koller
Senior Research Analyst at the Counter Extremism Project (CEP)
Discussant and Moderator:
Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler
Senior Director, Counter Extremism Project (CEP)
The presentations will be followed by a Q&A-session open to all participants.
REGISTRATION:
To participate in this webinar please register via this link: https://counterextre.me/CEP-KASWebinarJune20
Please register up to one hour before the webinar start so that your registration can be approved in time.
Please feel free to forward this invitation to colleagues with an interest in the subject.