ADDRESSING THE OVERLOOKED ROLE OF AFRICAN CITIES IN PREVENTING AND COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM

P/CVE, Counter-terrorism, violent extremism, CHRIPS

has been more than 20 years since the 11 September 2001 attacks that catalysed the development of a global ecosystem of national counter-terrorism frameworks, institutions, programmes and networks. Despite these investments, the terrorist threat in Africa is on the rise.9 These threats are evermore aligned with, or emerging from, one form of local conflict or another. Terrorist recruiters, often linked to al-Qaeda, ISIS and their affiliates, exploit local grievances that stem from weak governance, political and socio-economic marginalisation, porous borders, corruption, and heavy-handed policing, among others.