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Even as terrorism cases have declined in East Africa in recent years, the region is experiencing a renewed growth in piracy and increasing attacks by cybercriminals.
“These are threats that have disrupted lives, weakened economies and tested the resilience of our nations,” Workneh Gebeyehu, executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), recently told members as they launched the organization’s project to counter transnational crime in Kenya.
IGAD is pushing for a regional approach to rein in crime that crosses national borders and affects millions of people across the region.
The aim of the Regional Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism against Transnational Security Threats, according to Gebeyehu, is to enable East African countries to share intelligence more effectively, harmonize their legal systems and strengthen their ability to present a united front against transnational criminals.
Working together, East African countries have managed to degrade or restrict terrorist groups such as Somalia’s al-Shabaab, leading to a nearly 20% decrease in regional extremism, according to analysts. Through regional security missions such as the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia and its successor, the AU Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia, African forces have boosted border security while reducing the capacity for al-Shabaab and the Islamic State group affiliate known as ISIS-East Africa to act.
Kenya has intercepted foreign terrorist fighters headed for Somalia, a list that includes its own citizens trying to join al-Shabaab or ISIS-East Africa, and fighters returning from abroad. Kenya’s counterterrorism teams have detected and deterred terrorist plots and responded to dozens of terrorism-related incidents in recent years.
Despite those improvements in countering terrorism, the region is experiencing a new rise in piracy off the coast of Somalia. Just a few years after international authorities reported no acts of piracy in 2020, cases jumped from 19 in 2022 to 63 incidents in 2023. There were 33 cases of piracy in the first quarter of 2024, up 27% from the same period in 2023.
Somalia-based pirates travel as far south as Madagascar and Mozambique in their hunt for shipping to attack, according to United Nations experts.
“Piracy is a complex challenge to the safety and security of fragile economies in East Africa,” Yury Fedotov, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said during a recent visit to Somalia’s Puntland region.
“Ransoms generate millions of dollars for criminal groups, and some of this money flows into other transnational organized crime activities such as human, weapon and drugs smuggling,” Fedotov noted.
Based on UNODC’s latest figures, 1,186 Somali men now face prosecution in more than 21 countries around the world. Fedotov called for greater regional cooperation to fight piracy with a special focus on developing the Somali Coast Guard’s capacity for investigating suspected piracy cases.
As East African authorities tackle piracy, they also face the threat of criminals hunting for victims in cyberspace.
Kenya ranks near the top of the list of African countries whose citizens, companies and government agencies deal with cyberattacks.
Between April and June 2024 alone, the National Kenya Computer Incident Response Team recorded more than 1.1 billion cybersecurity threats in the country. That was a 16% increase from the previous quarter, according to a report by the Communications Authority of Kenya.
Nearly all the attacks were against the databases, networks and operating systems that form the backbone of Kenya’s internet system, the authority reported. Such attacks are increasing while others, such as malware and denial-of-service attacks, have declined.
Although Kenya is an example of the threats East African countries face from cybercriminals, the entire continent is increasingly at risk as internet access spreads rapidly without the necessary laws to combat online crime, cybersecurity expert Abiodun Akinwale told the U.N.’s African Renewal digital magazine.
“Without decisive action, Africa’s cybersecurity landscape could worsen significantly,” Akinwale said. “With internet access projected to reach most Africans in the coming years, the digital attack surface will expand exponentially. Also, cybercriminals are increasingly leveraging AI [artificial intelligence], machine learning and advanced tools to enhance their operations.”
The post As Terrorism Declines in East Africa, Piracy, Cybercrime Rise first appeared on Africa Defense Forum.
The post As Terrorism Declines in East Africa, Piracy, Cybercrime Rise appeared first on Africa Defense Forum.
